DSH
by LestatHughLover
Summary: Post season 2 'Jones'. Reid struggles to get over his addiction while working a case, but with Gideon on a sudden leave, it's a long hard road. Rated T for drug use and the occational swear.
1. The Onset of Symptoms

A/N: Please note that I'm being 'forced' to post this before the whole story is completed. I only have 7 chapters so far, so after a point there won't be regular updates. Hopefully you'll all stick with it, and keep hounding me for more. That's the only way it'll ever get done. Thanks

Ok, this is the result of reading too many (is there actually such a thing?) fan fics and then re-watching Revelations, and craving more. I'm not new to writing in general, but this my first Criminal Minds fic so please R&R, and enjoy! The only character I really know well is Reid so forgive me if the others are a bit OOC. Also, note that this spawned from a dream I had… I just have to work at filling in the blanks that dreams so often give you. Takes place shortly after Revelations and Jones so Reid still has his "happy pills" or liquid liberation, as the case may be. But, he's working through it with Gideon, though in my mind Reid hasn't told Gideon exactly what it is he's struggling with.  
Drug information found here: here: various other places.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing Criminal Minds related. This is purely for fun.

**Drug Store Heroin**

Chapter 1: The Onset Of Symptoms

_It's a week. It's just a week. _Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid repeated this phrase silently to himself as he walked into the BAU offices. _I can last that long right? It's only 7 days, or 168 hours, or 2,016 minutes, also known as, 120,960 seconds. Yeah, I can do it. I can last a week without Gideon._

He'd received a phone call early that morning from his mentor, who sounded very rushed, saying only that he had to leave for about a week, that he should be back on Friday, and that he trusted him. Reid barely had time to accept it, and say goodbye before the call was disconnected, with the faint sound of an airport announcement in the background 'Final boarding call. Flight 214, destination --' -click- and that was that. He hadn't even noticed his ragged appearance before he left the house. He hadn't touched his hair, and rather then finding new clothes to wear he'd grabbed the ones from the day previous; plain, off-white, patterned shirt, boring, light brown slacks, a tie, and two different socks, one red and white stripped, and one black with blue dots. Completing the outfit was his regular messenger bag, filled with books, papers, and some unmentionables. He walked towards the staff room, quickly trying to locate everyone, hoping they had more information than he did.

There was only one other member of the team there, Prentiss, and he paid her no mind as he fetched himself a coffee, messenger bag still on his shoulder. He was rather possessive over that bag these days, considering it's contents that didn't surprise him, and the possessiveness was just the start of his ever changing behaviour since his kidnapping. No one seemed to blame him though, they all just took it as part of his natural coping mechanism. Everyone dealt with trauma in different ways, this was his. The thought brought a small smile to his face, as he stood in front of the coffee pot. None of them really had any idea what was going on. Not even Gideon, though he was the closest to finding out. _Gideon. _"It's a week, it's just a week." He began mumbling his earlier phrase under his breath, causing Emily Prentiss to take notice.

"Reid? You alright?" She stood from the table taking a couple hesitant steps towards him. No response, and she couldn't hear what he was saying. "Reid?" she continued, "What are you saying?"

His name, he heard his name from somewhere behind him, and he knew that voice, but it wasn't Gideon so it wasn't worth it. He continued mumbling to himself, vaguely aware of someone behind him, and that his heart rate seemed to be picking up, but completely unaware he was talking out loud. His heart rate… that was something he was supposed to keep an eye on, he'd done his research, he knew what it could mean. His name was said again, irritatingly close to him.

Prentiss frowned, concerned and confused. Despite standing so close behind him she still couldn't hear what he was saying. She took a step to the left, drawing slightly closer, "Spencer, are you ok?" She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but barely made contact before he spun to face her, swatting her hand violently away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Reid shouted, his breathing now deep and heavy over one simple action. The hurt, and slight fear, in his team member Emily Prentiss' eyes gave him slight pause, but it was like looking through a veil of someone else's memories to him. It couldn't possibly have been him that just did that. "Don't. Touch. Me." He repeated slower, keeping focused on slowing his breathing and heart rate. Once satisfied, he turned to his right, away from Prentiss, and grabbed his coffee off the counter then continued the turn to face the far wall where the door stood. Occupying the doorway were Morgan and JJ, both stunned and floundering for something to say.

Reid flushed slightly, looking to the floor for a moment before returning his gaze to them. "Umm, good morning." With a sigh he looked to the floor again, now completely embarrassed over his actions, and making a mental note to add mood swings to his list of ailments. "You guys hear about Gideon?" It was a feeble attempt to change the subject and he knew it, however as he raised his head again he noticed both of them nod.

"Is that what's got you all agitated, Reid?" Morgan asked calmly.

Reid shook his head, "I'm not agitated, I'm just… tired." He pulled out a chair from the table in the middle of the room. "Just didn't sleep much is all, after his call."

Morgan nodded, "Well, I wouldn't sit down just yet, Hotch wants to see us all ASAP."

Reid frowned, by the sounds of things they had another case, and he just wasn't feeling up to it. He gave them a weak smile and a small nod, and they both turned from the door and walked down the hall. Reid set down his coffee, leaving it forgotten, followed them to the doorway and then paused, waiting for Prentiss who he knew was behind him, somewhere. He turned towards her as he heard her approach, and noticed her flinch. Reid closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, trying to hide the pain he felt from being seen in his gaze, yet showing it all the more with his body language. "I'm sorry." He opened his eyes slowly waiting for acceptance or rejection, but Prentiss' expression was neutral.

"Yeah, I get it, I understand. Your stressed, we all know you need time to heal, and Gideon's sudden departure just made things harder." Reid nodded, and she stepped passed him , entering the hallway. "You coming."

"Uh, yeah, I'll be there in a few, have to make a quick stop at the little boys room." He said with a weak smile.

Prentiss nodded, "Well I'd hurry, by the sounds of things this is big." Without another word she turned and took the same path down the hall as the others.

Reid looked both ways, checking for any other people, before shoving his hand inside his bag, searching for the special pocket and it's contents, while he started at a jog in the other direction, towards the bathrooms.


	2. Liberation and Confinement

A/N: I really, really, really procrastinated writing this chapter. As much as I love torturing Reid, I hate to do it at the same time. At this rate I'll be putting it off for days when it gets to the meat of the story. This will still be a ways off most likely so stick with it, please.  
Dispite my love/hate relationship with the torture, the first part of this chapter is one of my favorites.  
Enjoy!

Disclaimer: CM is not mine.

* * *

Chapter 2: Liberation and Confinement

Increased heart rate, irregular breathing, mood swings. These were all signs of withdrawal from the Dilaudid. He hadn't taken his regular dose that morning, and despite the fact it had only been a couple hours off from his usual time he knew he couldn't risk putting his team in jeopardy, or giving them a clue that something deeper than Gideon's absence was ailing him. He was surprised at how quickly he was withdrawing from the drug, usually the increased heart rate was a stage two symptom.

Finally his hand grasped the tiny phial, and he sighed with relief. As much as he hated doing this to himself, he couldn't risk the symptoms increasing and having something go wrong during the meeting or afterwards. He needed to set his body back to 'normal' and then things would be better.

He shouldered open the door and stepped inside. No one was around, that was good. He debated locking the door behind him, but didn't figure he'd get interrupted any time soon. He chose the farthest stall from the door, paying no attention to the drab white walls of the washroom. Pulling the phial from his bag he set the bag down, flap open, and the phial on the toilet paper dispenser. Quietly he closed the lid of the toilet then knelt to retrieve more from his bag. He came up with the commonly used rubber tube that would be used as the tourniquet to tie his arm off, and one packaged, sterile, needle. He set the needle next to the small container of Dilaudid, and sat down, rolling up his right sleeve. He closed his eyes with a grimace at the sight of the crook of his elbow. Track marks. Some were old, and just about healed, and a couple were fresh. What was he doing to himself? He was constantly being set off by little things, had a hard time sleeping, and he was sure he'd lost weight even though he was afraid to weigh himself. He shook his head, squishing his eyelids shut. "DAMN IT!" He lashed out, smacking the wall on his right with his hand. "Ok Spencer, just breathe, a few minutes and it'll be over and you can get back to your life." He coached himself out loud.

Without wasting any more time, he tied the tourniquet above his elbow, overtop of his rolled up sleeve. He clenched and unclenched his hand a couple times, feeling the tourniquet pinch and constrict his blood vessels, and his lower arm began to throb just slightly with his heartbeat, as his heart pumped harder, to no avail, to get more blood flow to the area. He then reached for the needle and syringe package, fumbling with the wrap before getting it open and picked up the bottle of liquid.

He was so glad he got to bypass the stage of liquefying the drug himself. That would only make him feel more like a junkie. He inserted the needle into the phial, the needle tip pointing towards the ceiling, and drew out 1cc. He was supposed to be cutting back to .5cc but he hadn't quite been following the promises he made himself. As he removed the needle the studied the phial again, there seemed to only be enough for one more dose. Shit. Maybe he could get one and a half out of it, it was hard to tell. There wasn't much time to dwell on that though, his arm was beginning to grow numb. He put the small container back on the dispenser and turned his attention to the syringe, flicking it twice and gently pushing against the plunger to release any trapped air. Switching the syringe to his left hand he frowned, it was much harder to do this wrong handed, but Tobias had started on his right arm, so Reid wasn't about to mess up both of them. He searched for a new vein for his injection site, not wanting to over use at the same spot. He'd much rather a bunch of track marks that would heal then a couple singular scarred reminders of what he'd been through. Once an appropriate site had been located he took a deep breath in, and then out as he inserted the needle at the recommended 45° angle with the direction of the blood flow. It stung, and Reid felt the need to clench his teeth, he'd never like needles. Another deep breath in and out as he slowly depressed the plunger on the syringe.

He could almost feel the effects immediately, from what little blood was escaping the hold of the tourniquet. This was the advantage to intravenous drug use over other types. One was able to bypass the body's natural chemical filtration methods and head straight into the blood stream and directly to the brain.

Before the drug could grasp its spindly fingers around his consciousness, Reid removed the needle, setting it next to the phial, and untied the band around his arm. The release of the pressure from the tourniquet allowed all the blood to rush through his veins freely, and the drug to fully reach it's desired target. It was bliss, a dual high. Blood and drugs rushing to the brain, while sensation came back into his arm.

Reid's jaw lulled open slightly as he let his head fall back while he closed his eyes. The first five minutes, despite the initial bliss, was always hell. At least there was no longer any hallucinogen in his supply. Once he ran out of Tobias's last phials, and began to get the drug made for him personally, it had been a lot better. He was able to begin functioning a lot sooner after injecting, but the first five minutes, when he felt as if he were going to pass out, was the worst effect. After that he'd just feel numb, painless, and yet whole and complete.

* * *

He'd lost track of the time by the time he finally had enough sense to lift his head. He couldn't have been in there more then 15 minutes total. He knew the team would start to wonder what was holding him up. His body shook as his pain receptors were shut down, one by one, and it took him a second to find his footing when he stood.

He returned the phial to its safe place in his bag, along with the rubber tourniquet. Hoisting the bag onto his shoulder he rolled down his sleeve, left the stall, and disposed to the needle in the garbage. It definitely wasn't the safest way to dispose of it, but he couldn't carry it open in his bag, or in his hand. He stopped in front of the mirror and cringed at his reflection. He looked like death. His hair was a mess, his clothes wrinkled and dirty, and his skin was pale and even more gaunt then usual. Add to that the fact that his pupils were now slightly dilated, and it seemed to him that he was the picture perfect image of a drug abuser. Why his team hadn't figured it out yet was beyond him. _I'm not an abuser, I'm a user. There's a difference, Spencer. _He thought as he pulled his phone off his belt, and hit speed dial 7. The first 6 were for the other members of the team, Gideon, JJ, Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, and Prentiss, the 7th was his supplier.

* * *

Morgan rolled his eyes and he walked down the hall towards the bathrooms. Why did he get stuck being errand boy? It's not like Hotchner couldn't have gone just as easily. Reid had been gone for about 15 minutes, which seemed like an awful long washroom break. In his absence, however, Hotch had taken the time to inform them all officially about Gideon's absence. Morgan pulled out his wallet and looked down at the piece of paper he held with a phone number on it. Each team member had received one except for Reid, and were informed to use it only in a dire emergency. He sighed and tucked it into his wallet, and returned his wallet to his pocket.

As he neared the washroom he could hear a voice from beyond the door. It sounded like Reid, and it sounded angry. He stopped just outside the door to listen.

"No! …No, I can't wait till Sunday! …Well, that doesn't work! …Called you sooner? Well I didn't know until just a few minutes ago now did I?" A heavy sigh followed, and Reid had apparently lost the argument. "Yeah… Yeah ok. I understand. Same as usual? …Ok."

Morgan knocked on the door then pushed it open. Reid turned to face him, and Morgan had to stop himself from taking a step back at the sight. If it was possible he looked even more unkempt then he had a few moments ago. "Reid, Hotch is waiting, let's go." He motioned with is head back down the hall.

Reid nodded and spoke into the phone. "I have to go." Then he hung up and smiled weakly at Morgan as they both stepped out of the bathroom and started down the hall.

"Reid," Morgan started, "Forgive me for saying this, buddy, but you look like hell."

Reid sighed, "I feel like hell, so I suppose that's an accurate observation. Point 1, for Morgan." The last part of his sentence had a slight sarcastic tone.

"Are you trying to be funny Reid, because I hate to break it to you, but it's not working." Morgan replied.

Reid chose to ignore that comment as they entered the room, joining the other agents. He couldn't help but notice how they stared at first then tried to force their eyes away, especially the team members that hadn't yet seen him today. He took a seat closest to the door, feeling slightly self conscious, and gently set his bag down by his feet, pulling out a notepad and a pencil. Morgan took a spot a few chairs down, and turned his attention to Hotchner.

Hotch seemed extra serious and demanding today, Reid noticed as Hotch eyed him with a frown. "Nice of you to finally join us, Reid." He stated simply, "Now we can get started." He picked up a small pile of folders and passed them around. They were the case files on whatever situation it was they were about to get briefed on.

"Yesterday, 5 missing persons reports were filed in the Winchester area. Each person worked for the same company and were reported as never coming home after work by their spouse." Hotchner began the briefing.

"All in the same night?" JJ asked, receiving a nod from Hotch. "Well… it's going to be hard to convince the media and the public that they're all unrelated." She said with a frown.

"With this information," Hotch continued, "we can safely assume this is work related. However, there is another angle I'd like us to look at."

"What's the history of the company?" Prentiss asked, interrupting Hotchner.

"That's just what I was about to get to." He replied. "The small 3 story office building," he pinned a picture of it up onto the board, along with the faces of each reported missing person, "was just built last year. Since then, there have been many complaints from the local elementary school staff because the building is directly behind their playground, and they feel like it was an unfit location. It's possible one of the school's staff decided to take matters into their own hands and remove the employees from the building, which would be a step closer to getting the building demolished. However, more then likely, the unsub is someone directly linked to the company itself."

"Actually," Reid piped up, "profession doesn't generally play a part in a persons ability to commit a crime. A teacher would be just as likely to kidnap and hold a person or group hostage as any office worker." He smiled to himself; at least he knew one of the drug's side effects, clouded thoughts and memory, wasn't affecting him.

Reid's comment brought a smile to each team member present, including Hotchner. That was the Reid they knew and loved. Maybe he hadn't totally changed after his encounter with Tobias. It was comforting, and the smiles on their faces were proof.

"So, what else do we know about the missing persons?" Morgan asked, getting back to business after their moment of light-hearted euphoria.

"There doesn't appear to be any pattern in age or sex, the only connection is that they all work in the same building." Hotch answered.

"So, do you figure the unsub just nabbed whoever was there at the time?" Morgan asked again.

Hotch nodded, "That's the most obvious observation, yes. And chances are they're being held very close to the building if not somewhere in it. We'll find out more when we get there."

Reid shifted uncomfortably; there were numerous reasons why he didn't want to leave. What if Gideon came back early and they were still on the case? Phone calls were only good for so much. Not to mention he needed to be here Sunday at 4pm, or his arrangement was off. Since it was Friday morning that only gave them about 2 and a half days to solve the case. "Do we all have to go? I mean," he shifted in his chair again, "this sounds like a pretty simple case, surely we don't need to have every one of us there. We'd just be a phone call away if needed."

Hotch shook his head, "Reid, you know as well as the rest of us that the cases that start out easy just get harder by the hour. Besides," he almost had a smirk on his features, "not all of us are going. Techno-wiz, Garcia, will still be here." He paused for a few seconds. "Well, everyone pack up! I'd like to leave by 9:00." Hotch ordered. "Oh, and we're traveling by car since it's only an hour and forty away."

"An hour and 38, ideally." Reid muttered.


	3. Sudden Suspicion

A/N: This chapter is mostly for filler purposes, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway. And there is some important stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything CM related.

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Chapter 3: Sudden Suspicion

The team all left the room single file, in search of their luggage. They each kept a suitcase at work for this specific reason. Never knowing how long or how far away a case would take them, it was always good to be prepared.

Reid found a corner where he could watch the team and not be snuck up on, already prepared for the trip as usual, and flipped open his phone. It took him almost 5 minutes to talk himself into doing this before he hit speed dial 7 for the second time that day. There was the distinctive sound of a phone being answered, but no one spoke. Reid sighed, "It's me."

There was a gruff laugh, followed by a gruff voice to match. "I have a lot of "me's." Be specific."

Another sigh, and then he replied with one word. "Dilaudid."

"Ahhh," came the voice in reply, sounding as soft as it could. "Our 'Drug Store Heroin,' boy. Didn't you just call me? What the hell do you want now?"

Right. Straight to business. "Is there any way you can arrange for pick up in Winchester?"

"I might be able to, but it'll cost you." Reid could almost hear the dealer's smile as it stretched across his rough cracked skin.

"How… how much?" Reid bit his lower lip nervously.

"That'll depend on who delivers. It'll be my fee, plus a delivery charge. That's all I can tell you. I'll be in touch." Reid could hear the phone being shifted, and a muffled, "Stupid junkie." before the line went dead.

Reid moved his phone away from his ear and stared at the screen, the number still being displayed. He wasn't a junkie. He wasn't! He refused to believed he'd fallen that low. But… what if he had? He flipped his phone shut, and squished his eyes shut, not wanting them to begin to water, though they already had. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, _I am not weak_, and then stared at the floor, trying to compose himself before he joined the team.

* * *

The team members were slowly reconvening in the main room of the BAU offices. Morgan leaned against a desk on the far side of the room, arms and ankles crossed, studying Reid while he spoke on the phone. Prentiss stepped up beside him, following his line of sight.

"You're worried about him." It wasn't a question, because she already knew the answer. They were all worried.

"Man, there are some days I wish I could read lips." He shook his head, concern lacing his features.

"Does it look like he's lost a lot of weight to you?" Morgan nodded grimly, "I mean, there wasn't much to him to begin with but this…" She trailed off.

"He looks like he's on death's doorstep, and he's just wasting away. We've all had traumatic experiences, but we've all bounced back… Reid…"

Neither of them had noticed that JJ had joined them until she spoke, "Reid just keeps getting worse." She sighed, "For the record I hate that we're gossiping about him, but he does look sickly. Brain is still sharp as a tack though." She smiled, recalling his earlier spout-off of facts. "He could have been worse off though. Not only did Tobias have a split personality but he was also a--" She stopped. Something suddenly seemed out of place.

"Earth to JJ." Morgan waved his hand in front of her face, "'…was also' what?"

"N-nothing," She turned to them as Reid stopped talking on his phone, "I have to go see Garcia before we leave, I just remembered something." She turned and walked away, leaving the other two to wonder.

They both turned their attention back to Reid as he wiped at his eyes. "Something tells me that wasn't a good call." Morgan murmured, taking his weight off the desk. "I'll be back." He set his steps in Reid's direction, preparing to coax him into telling him what was wrong. Even though Reid was the youngest member of the team, Morgan didn't like to father him, the whole team felt like he should be respected, and yet everyone babied him in some way. Except for maybe Garcia.

"Hey, Genius," Morgan called as he drew closer, "you alright." The eyes that looked up at him were wet with tears, though none had fallen.

Reid sighed, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Or I will be anyway. Just not feeling up to any of this right now, Morgan. But I have a job to do, people to save, so that's what I'm going to do." He wiped his eyes again, and tried to smile. "Thanks, Morgan." He said as he turned and walked away to get his overnight bag.

Morgan looked after him confused, "I didn't do anything…" he quietly said to himself, then, raising his voice loud enough to carry to where Reid was, added, "…but you're welcome!"

* * *

JJ knocked on the door to Garcia's office before opening it. She stood in the doorway, watching Garcia's back as she studied her multitude of screens. After a moment Garcia spoke, "Enter the temple of the Goddess, and pray to receive your blessing." Turning in her chair she met JJ's small smile with a large one of her own, as JJ walked in closing the door behind her. "What can I do for you this fine morning?"

"We're just about to head out on a case, and--" JJ started.

"Mmmhmm, I already heard. Doesn't seem too serious though, why are they calling us in?"

JJ shrugged, "No idea, other then the fact that 5 known persons all went missing at the same time."

"Right. Of course. Other then that." She paused, "So, what brings you here then?"

With a sigh, JJ drew closer, lowering her voice though she didn't have to. "You remember Tobias Hankel."

Garcia shuddered, "How could I forget? Horrible, horrible, person… Though, I did like his set-up"

"Can you check into something for me?" She didn't wait for a response, "I need you to look up everything you can on his drug of choice. And how he was able to get his hands on it, as well as if, despite going through a program, he was still using during the time we were on his case."

Garcia nodded, "But there weren't any reports of it in his blood stream after death."

"I know that, that's why we're checking. It's possible after a stressor like killing his own father, he returned to his drug use. It was enough to split his mind into separate entities, it's not to hard to believe he'd still be using."

"You got it. I'll call you once I have everything." Garcia reassured JJ.

"Good, I want to know everything about that drug. Side effects, withdrawal symptoms, everything." She glanced at her watch, about 5 minutes until they left. She turned and walked to the door, then looked back. "Oh, and one more thing. Don't tell anyone. Please." Then she opened the door and left Garcia to work her magic.

* * *

Hotch sat in the drivers seat of the black SUV, impatiently tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. The other four team members were gathered around the back of the vehicle as Morgan waited to toss everyone's bags into the back. They each had varying sizes to carry their clothes. Hotch had the largest suitcase, Morgan had what looked like a hockey bag, but about half the size. The girls were packed with medium sized suitcases, while Reid carried a small gym bag.

Morgan threw all the bags into the back then turned to Reid. "Why don't you put that in the back too, it'll be safe." He said, indicating Reid's regular messenger bag.

Reid shook his head, "I'd rather have it with me, thanks."

Morgan chuckled slightly, "Suit yourself, but Reid, buddy, you gotta lighten up. I call shot gun!" Closing up the back of the SUV, he jogged around to the passenger side and got in, as Reid and the girls followed.

Reid ducked his head, crawling into the 3 person back seat, but misjudged and hit his forehead against the frame of the doorway. He stepped back with a frown, checking for any bumps or dents to his head, before readjusting, and entering the vehicle successfully.

JJ followed close behind, "Geeze, Spence, didn't that hurt?" She asked Reid.

He shook his head, "No, not really."

Morgan chuckled again from the front seat as Prentiss crawled in and shut the door. "JJ, you should know by now that Reid has a hard head." He knew it would be all business when they got to Winchester, so now was the time for relaxing and having a few laughs. He had a feeling they'd need it.


	4. Withdrawn

A/N: Updating shortly after the last because this is another mostly filler chapter… you don't get to the action of an episode till almost half way through, you know. And it's a short chapter… I'm sorry. I estimate chapter 10 is when it'll start REALLY picking up again (with Reid) until then, you get team stuff.

Disclaimer: No profit, just a love for CM, which I do not own.

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Chapter 4: Withdrawn

The mood in the SUV was light for the first half hour of the trip. Morgan continued to crack jokes about his fellow team mates, mostly of Reid. Everyone, save for Reid, seemed to enjoy the break from thinking about the case. Reid, however, seemed not to care, or even to notice, and remained silent, his eyes unfocused as he stared out the window.

After another failed attempt to get Reid to crack a smile, Morgan turned around as much as he could in his seat to face him. "What's your problem today, Genius? We all know you're upset about Gideon leaving so suddenly, we know what he means to you. If you think we don't, that's pretty stupid." Reid shifted in his seat, his arm's crossed, still looking out the window, but didn't reply, so Morgan continued. "You've been moody all day, and the day's just getting started. You're not yourself, kid. Tell us what's up." It was clearly a demand, and not a polite question.

Reid turned his head to face Morgan, a glare so icy and cold set into his features Morgan had to stop himself from visibly showing the shock he felt. "I've already told you 'what's up,' Morgan. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night. That's it."

"You can't seriously believe we're going to fall for the 'I'm just tired' routine, do you? We're all profilers, this is what we do best."

"Drop it." A voice sounded from next to Morgan. Morgan turned to face Hotch in the driver's seat, a questioning look on his face. "I said drop it, Morgan. Leave the kid be."

Morgan dropped his voice, though in the enclosed space Reid could probably still hear if he was paying attention. "You can tell as well as I can there's something wrong with our boy, and you want me to just leave it alone?"

Hotch nodded once, "That's what I said. We can't have any animosity between the team members during a case, so I won't have you stirring up trouble with Reid. Understood?"

"Ok… Fine… Whatever you say, boss." Morgan sighed, suddenly wishing he had his headphones which were still in his bag at the back.

The rest of the trip was largely silent, and uneventful, save for the occasional hold up in traffic due to the morning rush hour that was just coming to an end, and a break of the silence from Reid's phone. Reid looked at the number on display then at his team members before letting it finish ringing and go to voicemail. A few moments later the silence was broken again by a beep from Reid's phone signalling a message was left. He seemed satisfied with this and shut his phone off, making a mental note to check it later.

As the team climbed out of the SUV in front of the Winchester police station, they stretched their legs, as the local chief of police came down the front stairs to great them.

"I don't care how short the drive is," Morgan mumbled to Hotch as the man approached, "next time we fly."

Hotch looked sideways at Morgan, "It's a seven minute flight. That's pointless." Hotch then turned to the approaching officer. "Special Agent Hotchner. These are Special Agents Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, and Dr. Reid."

The man moved to shake hands with Hotch, "I'm the captain and police chief here, Detective Daniel Douglass." He frowned, concerned, "I trust you'll be able to solve this quickly?"

Hotch nodded, "Well, we can certainly tell you who it is you're looking for. Can you show us where to set up?"

"Right, of course, this way." He turned and made his way up the short set of stairs as the team followed behind. Detective Douglass did not appear to be your stereotypical police chief. He was young, as far as captain standards go, about 35 and still fit and muscled like he hadn't touched a doughnut in his life. A blonde, pretty-boy, that could have probably been a successful model had he not chosen law enforcement. Douglass led them into a large room, most likely a meeting or conference room and left with a quick nod.

"Well, he looks…" Prentiss started.

"Attractive?" JJ offered.

"I was going to say stressed, but that works too."

"Ladies, focus. We have a case, now let's get to it." Hotch brought the attention to him, as everyone took a seat around the table.

"Well, what more do we have?" Reid asked, "We haven't been given anything more to work on."

"Let's start with what we do know. Each of the missing persons work for the same company, there have been complaints issued by the school board and teachers that are next door, but nothing's gone through. We need to talk to the spouses of the missing people, and to the head of the company and find out what other complaints they've received." He waited for nods from each person, then continued, "Morgan, JJ, you talk to the families, Prentiss and Reid, go to the building and see whoever's in charge. I'll stay here and try to wring more information out of Detective Douglass, then meet up with whoever needs me. Let's go."


	5. Family Secrets

A/N: I really like this chapter! It's one of my favourites. It's LOOONG but it's good. Long to make up for the silly short filler before it. Everything that happens in this chapter has some reference to a family secret, something someone doesn't want everyone to know, even the stuff not mentioned in the chapter, but happened within the timeline, (and will be explained next chapter) have a secret. I'll let you readers try and figure out what they all are, see how good YOU profile. Some should be obvious, others maybe not.  
Also, this was written before season 3 started, and thus, the elevator scene was NOT stolen form the show. So my facts are different then what was said on the show, but I'm keeping them the way I originally wrote it, because that's what my research had turned up. (Yes, I researched)  
And finally, I allude to a scene with Prentiss that never actually happened in the series. Hopefully no one is so nitpicky that it'll bother them.

Disclaimer: Cm is not mine, how sad.

* * *

Chapter 5: Family Secrets

JJ and Morgan knocked on the door of a small house marked number 14. A timid looking woman peered around the curtain that hung over the window on the door. Morgan flashed his FBI badge and her face disappeared. Neither of them heard anything before the door opened just large enough for the woman's head to be seen.

"Mrs. McGinnis?" JJ smiled, "I'm agent Jennifer Jareau, and this is agent Morgan. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your husband, Jason McGinnis. May we come in?"

The woman seemed to relax with JJ taking control over Morgan. "I already talked to the police," she squeaked, "b-but I suppose I could spare a moment." She opened the door fully and let them in, closing and locking the door behind them. She led them into the quaint living room, motioning for them to have a seat.

The room was pale, beige and light pinks were everywhere. There was a display case of antique china against one wall, and knitted doilies adorned the tables and stands about the room. The couch on which they were about to sit, along with the opposite chair, were hidden under light pink slipcovers, that looked easily interchangeable. The light carpet looked recently steam cleaned, and JJ and Morgan shared a look, noting how everything was almost too picture perfect.

As they sat Mrs. McGinnis smiled shyly and offered them some tea. JJ shook her head but Morgan nodded, with a polite "Please." Mrs. McGinnis left the room and JJ and Morgan shared another look. The lady of the household was probably only in her late 20's but this house looked like that of a grandmother. Mrs. McGinnis clearly lacked confidence and hid herself behind baggy clothes as well. She wore sweats and a knitted burgundy sweater that was at least 3 sizes to large. Her hair was in a simple ponytail, but there were strands sticking out every which way.

As Mrs. McGinnis returned with a pot of tea and two cup-and-saucers, JJ and Morgan turned their attention towards her. She placed one cup-and-saucer in front of Morgan and one in front of her own chair opposite them. She poured the tea with a steadier hand then one would expect from someone as frail-looking as her, and then took her seat with both legs curled up under her.

Morgan reached for his tea, letting JJ take the lead on the questioning.

"So, Mrs. McGinnis, what can you tell us about your day yesterday? Anything unusual?" JJ probed, leaning forward to listen.

Mrs. McGinnis swallowed her sip of tea and frowned. "No, nothing unusual, and please, call me Lacy." She smiled weakly and continued, "Jason and I woke up at the usual time, I made him breakfast, he left for work, I made his lunch and took it to him at noon as usual, then I came home. I started supper at the usual time so it would be ready when he got home, but he never did. I waited and waited, but no Jason. I finally went down to the station after midnight to file my report."

"You didn't file you're report until after midnight?" JJ asked.

"Well, originally I went down to see if they had him in holding or something. Maybe he went out with his buddies and got drunk and was picked up, and no one called to tell me. But he wasn't there, so that's when I filed the report."

"Alright." JJ nodded, "So what can you tell us about your husband? Anyone have a problem with him?"

"Not that I'm aware of. He works with great people, all of them. We're all neighbours here. Like a family. He works as one of the construction heads at the building. Mostly supervising the still ongoing construction, but occasionally he works with the crew as well. He enjoys that."

"Thank you, Lacy. I think that's all we need for now. Can we contact you if we need anything else?" JJ asked, rising off the couch.

Morgan and Lacy rose as well, and Morgan set his empty cup down. "Of course." Lacy replied, "Anything I can do, I'd be glad to." She motioned to the door before walking ahead and unlocking it. She opened it letting the two agents pass through.

"Thank you, Mrs. McGinnis." Morgan said with a smile, before the door was shut behind them and presumably locked, while Morgan and JJ walked down to the sidewalk.

"So, what do you think?" JJ asked.

"I think all families have secrets, and Mrs. McGinnis is definitely hiding something." Morgan said, and JJ nodded in agreement. "So who's next?"

JJ pulled out their list and looked at the next address. "Jessica Goring. Her boyfriend is missing. She's at number 17 Oriole Lane." They looked at each other and then across the street at number 17, before shrugging and making their way over to the house.

* * *

Prentiss and Reid pulled up to the small office building, parking on the street near the school. The building was only 3 floors in height, and just took up a corner of the block. The rest of the square block was taken up by the school building and the playground near the office building. The only conversation during the short drive had been about the case. Prentiss didn't dare pry into Reid's life. As much as she was concerned about him, just like everyone else, he'd already shown her quite clearly he didn't think her opinion mattered.

They got out of the vehicle they were loaned and preceded up the walk of the building. Once inside they glanced around the entry way. It was bright and welcoming, very modern, and looked more expensive than the outside. They both made their way up to the front desk, and waited for the secretary to give them her attention.

When the pretty brunette looked up at them and smiled, Prentiss smiled back. "We need to talk with Mr. Gordon, please."

Shirley, as her nametag read, smiled again "Sure thing, miss. He's third floor, big office near the back. I think he's in a meeting right now, though, but his personal assistant, Janette," she didn't pronounce the name normally, like 'Janet,' but with a French flair, "will be able to help you further. The elevators are just on the right." She pointed down the hall, and then returned to answering and forwarding calls.

They walked down the hall and waited for the elevator in silence. Once the doors opened they stepped inside and were the only occupants as the door closed.

Reid looked over at Prentiss, an almost boyish smirk on his face that was very out of character. "How much do you want to bet he's sleeping with her?"

"What?!" Prentiss shot Reid a look that was a mix of horror and confusion.

"Mr. Gordon and his _personal_ assistant, Janette." Reid stated this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The fact she wasn't called just his assistant or secretary, and that the word 'personal' was added, speaks volumes. The majority of 'personals' are sleeping with whomever it is they work for. It's just a fact. I'll even wager he's cheating on his wife."

By this point Prentiss' jaw had dropped, "You've lost your mind, Reid." She reached over and pushed the button for floor 3, and the elevator began to move.

Reid shrugged, "Did you know approximately 12 elevator passengers die every year. This doesn't include maintenance workers on the elevator, which make up about half the deaths. It also doesn't appear to make a difference if the person was heading to work at the time or just an average passenger. It was 6 for each. I suppose technically we're both right now. Wonder if that increases our chances?"

"Reid! Stop it." She playfully hit him on the arm. She wasn't going to chastise him too much, he seemed to be suddenly in a good mood and she wasn't about to wreck that, even if statistics on death wasn't her idea of a good conversation.

"Don't worry, most of them happen by falling down the shaft, or getting caught in the doors." He smiled, "We're already inside." He left out what they both were thinking as the elevator 'binged' to a stop and the doors opened.

Both Prentiss and Reid looked at each other, and he motioned for her to lead the way. She took a breath and stepped through the doorway, Reid following close behind, and the door closed behind them without incident. They made their way straight down the wide isle between various desks and cubicles, and through the door at the back, which led to another reception area.

The lady behind the desk raised her head and smiled in much the same fashion as Shirley had, and hung up the phone. "You two must be here to see Mr. Gordon. Shirley just called up to tell me you'd be coming. I'm afraid he's in a meeting right now."

"When will he be --" Prentiss opened her mouth and began to speak but Reid cut her off.

"We need to see him now, it's urgent." He said, pulling out his badge and flashing it, with a very demanding tone that was not like him at all.

The lady jumped up, and nodded once, "Yes, sir. I needed to take some folders in to him anyway." She picked up a stack of folders and turned on the heal of her black stilettos, which matched her too short black dress, and ventured off behind the next set of closed doors.

Prentiss looked at Reid confused, and he merely shrugged, "Sometimes you have to use a little force." he said nonchalantly.

They waited a few moments for the lady to return, and could hear her coming a mile away with those heals she wore. Click, click, click. The sound bore into Reid's skull, irritating him immensely. He'd never understood the point of loud shoes. As she opened the door back up she waved them over, "He said he'll see you now. I'll take you to his office." She let them pass through the door and then started down the right hallway, her shoes clicking and echoing in the enclosed hallway, much louder then they had from the other side of the door.

The were led past many rooms, some were smaller offices, most were meeting rooms, until they came to the large door at the end. The lady, who they presumed was Janette, opened it with ease and led them inside. The room was bright, due to the wall of windows across from them, and looked extremely fancy. Everything had it's placed and was polished to a shine. The main desk was large and straight ahead. Off to the left was a series of book and display cases featuring many trinkets that looked expensive. The right held what could only be described as an entertainment/living room, complete with leather arm chairs and couches, and a large screen, plasma, high definition, TV. There was a door in the corner of the far right wall, next to the TV, which led off to only God knows where. Janette led them up to the man that had been sitting quietly behind the desk. "These are the people here to see you, from the FBI if I remember correctly." She smiled at him sweetly, tossing her brunette hair over her shoulder, and he smiled back and stood.

"Thank you, Janette." He turned to the two agents, "Would you like some coffee?" They both shook their heads and he turned back to Janette. "That'll be everything then, you may leave." She nodded and turned on her heal again, swaying her hips as she left the room. The man tried to watch her as she left, without being too obvious, but to two trained Profilers it was hard to miss.

Reid visibly relaxed as she left, noting that the floor in here was carpeted, and thus quiet. Prentiss shot him a look, and he shrugged, "You know me and women, I never know how to act." he whispered, Morgan had bugged him enough about that, that he figured he could use it as an easy excuse. Prentiss raised her eyebrows and said nothing more as the man stood and held out his hand for both of them to shake.

"You must be Mr. Gordon." Prentiss stepped forward, "We're agents Prentiss and Reid, from the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us."

Mr. Gordon nodded, "Yes, of course, please come sit down." He motioned to the couches on the other side of the room, before he started walking over there.

Prentiss followed, but Reid stole a quick look at the desk. Files, notes, a computer, pens, pictures of two kids playing soccer, and a picture of an average, though pretty, blonde and the two kids. With that last look he turned and followed the other two to the couches, taking a seat in one of the giant leather armchairs, his bag tucked next to him, while Mr. Gordon took another and Prentiss sat on the couch.

"Mr. Gordon, can you tell us if there was anything unusual yesterday? Any of the employees acting odd?" Prentiss asked.

Mr. Gordon shook his head, "The first I heard about the missing people was this morning on the radio. Everything ran smoothly, as usual, yesterday."

Prentiss nodded, "What about the people themselves, did they all work together?"

Again Mr. Gordon shook his head, "No, they were from different departments all over the building. Maybe a couple worked together, but as far as I know, as a majority they didn't even know each other."

"Can we get a list of those we know to be missing, and where they worked? As well, a list of anyone who didn't show up today would be helpful."

"Sure, sure thing. Just let Janette know on your way out and she can get you anything you need."

"Do you know of anyone that may have had a grudge against these people, or yourself, or the company in general?" Prentiss pushed deeper into issue at hand.

Mr. Gordon was about to shake his head when he paused considering things for a moment. "You mean besides the whole school board?" he said finally. "Other then the complaints from them we've had very few problems. One former construction worker claimed that the building wasn't safe, but he couldn't prove why. He has a brother who works here, and his children go to the school down there." He glanced towards the wall of windows that looked down over the playground. "He was probably just choosing to side with the school board."

"We'll need his name, as well." Reid spoke up for the first time since they'd sat down.

Mr. Gordon nodded at him and then looked back to Prentiss as he continued on, "There was one other employee here as well who was completely delusional. Constantly rambling on about the end of the world. Completely insane. He's the only employee we've ever fired. He may have a grudge, if he's not locked up in an asylum, somewhere, with all the other crazies." Mr. Gordon clearly had no respect for the mentally ill, "Just between us, but I think he should have been shot. Not only would it put him out of his misery, but it would keep people like _that_, who aren't all there upstairs, from reproducing."

Spencer Reid's eye twitched, as he gritted his teeth together. He had to force himself to stay cool. He glanced at Prentiss, who had paid absolutely no attention to the statement and was moving on in her questioning. Had he been with any other member of the team Mr. Gordon's statement would have been reprimanded, but Prentiss didn't seem to care. How could she care? She didn't even know. She'd come close, once, to finding out that his mother was suffering from schizophrenia, but he was able to pass it off as nothing. She was the member of the team that knew the least about him; about how there was always a constant thought in the back of his mind that he might develop the condition one day. Was that why they were always forced to work together? So that eventually he could open up to her, and she'd know as much as everyone else? He didn't want to let anyone else into his life.

His knuckles cracked, and he became aware of how hard he was actually clenching his hands into fists. The other two didn't seem to notice so he just let his hands loosen up, and took a few deep breaths. Crisis averted. No horrible mood swings from him. Not right now. See, he didn't need Gideon around him constantly to help him through his more violent moments.

"Is there anything else?" Mr. Gordon questioned Prentiss.

It was Reid that answered, "Yes, actually. Are you married?"

Mr. Gordon stammered feebly for words, and it made Reid smile. He didn't even notice the look Prentiss gave him before Mr. Gordon finally answered. "I am, but what's that got to do with your case?"

"Nothing," Reid replied, "I just noticed the pictures on your desk, but that you weren't wearing a wedding ring." He looked down at Mr. Gordon's hand, then back up. "I was just curious."

Mr. Gordon had followed Reid's gaze to his own hand, "I… I must have left it at home."

"And you didn't notice until I mentioned it? That rather odd, wouldn't you say so Emily?" Reid shifted slightly to face Prentiss.

"Reid, stop it. Point taken. You win." She mutter under her breath, teeth clenched, wanting this to end, now.

Reid shrugged, "Then I guess we're done here." He stood as Mr. Gordon reach for the phone on the side table.

He hit one button and then waited for an answer. It came quickly. "Yes, Janette, please come escort our guests out, and give them whatever they need… Thank you." And then he hung up, and stood to see them to the door. The sound of Janette's heels striking the floor could be heard coming down the hall, and grew worse as Mr. Gordon opened the door to the hall and let them step out.

Reid's head started to pound at the sound. It wasn't a headache by any means, because it didn't hurt, though that was probably due to the drugs still in his system. It was just pounding in time to his heartbeat. He wanted nothing more than to tear the shoes off her feet and make her walk barefoot, and he was still angry over Mr. Gordon's earlier comments and lack of respect. The small amount of pleasure he'd received from making Mr. Gordon uncomfortable only lasted a short while, and now he was faced with the incessant clicking of Janette's shoes.

They were taken back to Janette's reception area, and Prentiss relayed the information they needed. The set of doors they'd walked through to get here from the elevator were now open, with a clear view of the various employees bustling about their day.

As Janette scurried about as fast as her too short, too tight, little black dress would let her, Reid's hand started to twitch. He shook it out a few times, but it didn't help. _Muscle spasms_, he thought. He'd gone through them a couple times before, the first time, when he didn't know what was happening, was scary, but once he figured it out and why, they became more bearable. He knew there was nothing he could do except ride them out; it was simply his body's way of adjusting to having too little, or too much, of the drugs in his system. The hard part was figuring out which it was. This time it was most likely too much. Had he double checked the measurement of 1cc? He couldn't remember now if he'd made sure he hadn't gone over, it was likely that he had. His hand continued to twitch every few seconds with growing annoyance.

Prentiss's phone started to ring and Reid looked up at her before she could answer. "I'm going out to get some air; I'll meet you by the car." She nodded and Reid turned and headed down the hall, with his head down, as Prentiss answered her phone.

* * *

He watched the two FBI agents from down the hall. Word traveled fast in a small office like this, so he knew they were investigating the disappearances. Oh, this was delightful! Maybe he would finally get some justice! He looked closer still and the young man's hand twitched every so often.

_Druggie_, he hissed inside his own skull, _you can't hide from me. I know everything. You can hide you secrets from your friends, your family, but never from me. _He could take him now, as he separated himself from the female… he knew he could. But no… It would be too risky, too obvious. Oh, but he wanted to! He took a step out into the middle of the isle as the agent continued walking towards him. He could remove this filth from the world just like the others. _Yesssss, in the elevator, it would be soooo simple… _he thought to himself. But no… he couldn't, the other would find out too soon and then his plans would be ruined. He had to be patient; this one's time would come soon. He could feel it.

* * *

Reid lifted his head a split second too late, and bumped into a man who was about a head shorter than him. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Reid smiled lightly, "Too much going on in this head of mine." He tried to laugh it off but the man just nodded with a smile and stepped out of his way.

Reid took the opportunity to pass and kept on walking, up to the elevator, into the elevator, and eventually outside and to the car. He breathed in the early afternoon air with a happy sigh. The sun was shining, but there was a light breeze to cool it off. It would probably be unbearably warm in the car though, and he just realised he didn't have the keys to get in anyway, so waiting outside in the fresh air seemed like the best plan… The only plan.

Looked down at his bag and then flipped open the flap, his left hand started rummaging through looking for that special pocket. He noticed rather suddenly that the twitching had stopped, that was a relief. As his hand grasped the phial he pulled it out just enough so that he could see it, though it was still within the walls of the bag. If the twitching had been from too much of the drug he knew he couldn't take more, no matter how much he wanted it. Besides, he'd only taken his regular dose a couple hours ago, he wouldn't -- he couldn't -- allow himself to take any more until tomorrow morning. By doctors prescription it could be taken every 5-6 hours, but he didn't have a prescription. No, Spencer Reid would tough it out day by day.

The cool phial in his hand was almost too irresistible though, and he licked his lips wanting just a taste of the high he always got. No, he couldn't let himself loose control. If he took any more now, the twitching would definitely start again. Muscle spasms were fine when they were just in an arm or a leg, but if it started to affect the heart he'd be in deep trouble.

He heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Prentiss walking towards him -- a welcome distraction for once. He let the phial fall back into its regular resting place, withdrew his hand, and closed his bag. "So?" he questioned as she drew close enough.

She handed him a few sheets of paper, "Everything we asked for, and then some. We can look it over back at the station. I also asked to be faxed tomorrow's list of missing employees, ASAP, in the morning." Before Reid could question her, she held up a hand, "Yes, apparently they work right through the weekend here. Their days off are Monday and Tuesday."

He nodded, "Okay, sounds good, we heading back then?"

"Yes, Hotch may or may not be there, though. He just called to see if we needed his help with anything, but I told him we were done. He was about to call Morgan to see if they needed assistance, so if he's not there…" she shrugged, the answer was obvious. She walked around to the driver's side and unlocked it, then hit the power locks inside to unlock the passenger's side for Reid. They both got into the car and headed back towards the police station.

* * *

Hotch dialled Morgan's cell and waited for a reply.

"_Morgan, here._"

"Morgan, it's Hotch. You need a hand with anything?"

You could almost hear the smile on Morgan's lips as he answered, "_No, I think we've got it all under control now. Only one more person left to interview and we'll be back._"

Hotch nodded, even though Morgan couldn't see it. "Alright, see you when you're back." He frowned as he hung up the phone. He'd gotten no more information out of the young police chief than they already had. The team seemed to be productive though. Hotch took up pacing their meeting room as he waited for the others to return, wishing he could be of some more use somehow.


	6. Continued Secrets

A/N: This is almost a continuation of the last chapter. I felt the last one was just getting too long, so this should have technically been stuck on the end of it, but I made it its own mini-chapter instead. This means more family secrets are explained here…  
No one had yet tried to guess all of the secrets either. I'll give cookies to whoever gets them all right.  
HINT: There were 9 in the last chapter. I might be nice and say 8. Some will be repeated here, and some will be explained so that should help.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything CM related.

* * *

Chapter 6: Continued Secrets

They sat in a small circle, all going over what each other accomplished. Hotch started first, but didn't have much to give the team. JJ and Morgan took up the next position.

"I definitely think Mrs. McGinnis is hiding something. She's just twitchy and not comfortable around men. She hides her body when she has no reason to be self-conscious, of her looks. I'm just saying, clean her up a bit and she'd probably be a bomb-shell." Morgan began.

JJ nodded and continued, "Her house was too clean, and every surface was easily washable."

"Do you think her behaviour has to do with her husband?" Hotch asked.

JJ nodded again, "It's definitely a possibility."

"So, washable surfaces, hiding her body, uncomfortable around men… You think she's being abused?" Prentiss asked.

Morgan sighed, "It would appear so. The way she spoke, her mannerisms, it would certainly point to abuse."

"Okay," Hotch took the information in, and continued, "What else have you got?"

"Jessica Goring, she was…" Morgan started to chuckle, and JJ sighed.

"She was a handful. She lives with her boyfriend Leo Setter, who is one of the missing persons." JJ took over while Morgan composed himself.

"When we got there…" He broke out into a grin again.

"When we got there she was both high and drunk out of her mind. She kept thinking Morgan was her missing boyfriend, and couldn't keep her hands off him. Once we finally got her to stay on her couch, and made sure she wasn't in any risk, what-so-ever, of overdosing, we left. She would have been impossible to question. The next two weren't home, so we only had one person left after that." She looked at Morgan, and then continued, "Jack Dickens, his wife is missing. He really didn't give us anything more than Lacy-- Mrs. McGinnis, did. Normal day until she didn't return home without calling. She never goes out on Thursday nights, because Friday night is her night out with the girls. He knew something was wrong immediately."

"Were you able to get a list of the girls she goes out with?" Hotch asked.

Morgan shook his head, "No, he said she keeps them all on her phone, never wrote names or numbers down anywhere. Once he got to thinking about it he couldn't even recall if she'd ever mentioned their names to him."

"That seems a little odd. Don't you think?" Reid asked both JJ and Morgan.

They both nodded, "Everything is odd about this case, Reid." Morgan said. "And I have a feeling it's only going to get worse."

Prentiss nodded and pulled out the lists they'd been given. "We've got a list of all employees who never showed up today and the ones we already know to be missing, as well as what departments they all worked in. We've also got a couple names we should get Garcia to run." Morgan immediately pulled out his phone and dialled Garcia, putting the phone on speaker, and placing it on the middle of the table.

She answered in her usual tone, "_What do you need, my chocolate dream pie?_"

Morgan chuckled, that was a new one. "Keep it clean, you're on the air, baby-doll." It didn't concern him that the team would care, but telling Garcia to keep something clean would be an amusing task.

"_Of course,_" she sighed, "_Well what do you need the goddess to cook up today?_"

"We need you to run a couple names for us, and tell us what you get." Morgan said.

Garcia laughed, "Sugar, _you think I'd look it up and then not tell you? Come on; give 'em to me!_"

Morgan looked up at Prentiss and she read from the list. "Mr. Chad Reynolds, and Mr. Adrian Legato."

They could hear Garcia's pressing various keys on her keyboard and the occasional click of a mouse. Finally, "_Success! Okay, they both worked for the same company, KBG Supplies, and both left within months of each other. There's not much on Reynolds, he worked construction, has a brother named Chester who still works for KBG. Chad has been busily bouncing from job to job since he left the company. As for Adrian Legato… Well this is interesting._"

"Don't leave us hanging, girl, spit it out." Morgan pressed.

"_Adrian was let go from KBG, reason stated: He was insane._" Morgan looked up at Prentiss and Reid who both nodded, they already knew this, they needed something they didn't know. Garcia continued, "_He was unemployed after that. Someone finally took notice of him again after he wrote 'The End is Near' in his own blood, on the outside wall of his house._" They could almost hear her cringe. "_His only family lives in Vegas, so he was taken to an institute there to be closer to them._"

Reid froze, '_Please, let Garcia know when to keep her mouth shut…_' he thought, pleading with some unknown entity.

"_Hmmm,_" Garcia continued, "_he's still there, so I doubt he's your kidnapper. It looks like it's the same sanatorium that R--_"

"Thanks Garcia. I think that's all we need." Reid cut her off before she could say any more, and reached for the phone, "We'll call you if we need anything else." He disconnected the call, and slid the phone across the short table, back to Morgan.

The whole team looked at him with sympathy, which was the last thing he needed. The whole team, that is, save for Prentiss; she looked confused. He stood, turning away from them and moving to get himself a cup of now stale coffee. He had to do something to stop from seeing their prying eyes. Everyone except for Prentiss knew about his mother, and he intended to keep it that way. A part of him didn't even want them knowing. There were just some things that needed to be kept secret, even between the team that he called family. Apparently, Reid had a few secrets.

He didn't turn back to re-take his seat until he heard them discussing the case again. JJ had gotten them back on track, bless her. He sat down and listened, hoping to just blend into the background for a while.

"We have one possible suspect already, and yet hardly anything to build a profile on. I think we need to start putting the profile together, and present it, even if it's only partial, so that we don't end up making the profile to fit the suspect. Rather than the other way around; finding the suspect that fit's the profile." Morgan suggested.

Hotch nodded, "I think you're right, we'll give them what we've got now, and we can always build on it as we go."

The team all nodded in agreement, and broke from the table to prepare for the profile. Reid stayed seated and leaned back, reclining in his chair and closing his eyes. Prentiss was about to leave the room with the others, but paused looking back at Reid. This might be her only shot to talk to him, she had to take it. She walked back over to the table and pulled up a chair next to him. "Reid?" she said, more to make her presence known, than anything else.

"Hmmm?" he replied, without opening his eyes.

"I've tried talking to you before, and you've shot me down. I'm not going to let that stop me from trying, though. You've been acting… off… for weeks, Reid. I'm not saying you're not allowed to take as much time as you need to work through everything, but this is getting a bit ridiculous." Ok, this wasn't the approach she had meant to take. "What I'm trying to say is, I may be the newest member, but I'm not so new anymore. You can feel free to open up to me as much as you would to JJ, or Morgan… or Gideon."

Reid turned his head to face her, and opened one eye, before reversing back to his original position. "Why do you think I'd trust you that much?"

She sighed, "Because we're on the same team, Reid. If I don't know you, how can _I_ trust you?" Reid didn't reply, so she kept going. "Someone close to you is sick aren't they? Mentally ill, I mean."

Reid sighed, and nodded once.

"I didn't clue in until after what Garcia said, or rather, didn't say. Earlier today you grilled into Mr. Gordon, and I could figure out why, until I replayed the conversation. It was shortly after his trash talk of the mentally ill. That got to you, so I know it's someone you care about. You can tell me, Reid."

He sighed again, well, he'd gotten this far into it, there was no use denying it now. "My mom." was all he whispered.

Prentiss hadn't quite been prepared for that. An aunt or uncle, a close friend maybe, but a mother? "I-I can't imagine what that must be like."

"No… you're right. You can't." His voice was cold.

"What's wrong with her…? If you don't mind me asking. You really don't have to say any more if you don't want to."

Reid sat up and looked at her, "Schizophrenia. Joyous isn't it?"

"Reid, I'm sorry--"

"I don't want your sympathy. I don't need it."

Prentiss nodded, "Okay. So has she been doing alright? Has something happened with her that would make you unfocused?"

It would be an easy out. He could explain away all his drug symptoms by just saying he was worried about his mom. It would be nice to be left alone about it for more then a day. "No…" he shook his head, "It's not that. Like I already told Morgan, I haven't been sleeping well. There's no reason behind it, it just is."

Prentiss smiled slightly, accepting the fact that this was all she was going to get, "I'm glad you talked to me. We should probably go get ready for the profile." She stood and walked to the door where she waited for him to follow. Then they both left the room to help the others set up, and gather all the on duty police into one area.


	7. The Profile

Disclaimer: CM does not belong to me.

Chapter 7: The Profile

The team looked at the gathered police force sitting before them. It was a small group, but this was a small town, so it made sense. Hotch had set up the board with picture's of the missing persons, and any other information they'd gathered. "The individual we are looking for is a male, probably between the ages of 35 and 40, of average height and build. He most likely has some connection to the victims. Probably through his job, because so far they've all worked in the same building." he began the profile.

"He is either friendly, someone they know, or appears to be of no physical threat, because each of these people disappeared without a trace. No sound of a struggle, or any other altercation prior to this incident. If he hasn't contacted the media by now, he probably won't. This is definitely something personal, and not something he wants everyone to know." JJ continued, and then looked to Morgan.

"We believe he chose these people for specific reasons that may only be clear to him. He either has some sort of vendetta against the people, or the company, possibly even both. We don't know what his issue is; only that he feels he needs to complete it."

Reid took over after Morgan, "It could be possible he's suffering from some form of psychosis, thought it's probably not noticeable."

Prentiss gave Reid a smile, which he paid no attention to, and then continued, "He blends into any social setting, though he may not be comfortable in one. He's a wallflower of sorts, quiet, only talks if spoken to, he observes more than interacts."

Hotch sighed, "This is only a partial profile, hopefully with more investigating we can find out more, but for now if you see anything or think of anyone in this town who fits this description, let us know immediately. Thank you."

The officer's broke apart, all mumbling to each other and leaving the room, except one. He approached the team, and cleared his throat. "Have you heard about Chad Reynolds? He fits some of what you told us."

Hotch nodded, "He's a person of interest at this time, yes. We'll talk to him as soon as we locate him." The officer seemed to accept this and he turned and left the room.

Reid turned to Hotch, "The locals seem to think its Chad, shouldn't we go bring him in, or at least question him?"

Hotch shook his head, "Not yet, there's still more avenues we need to look down." He looked around for the police chief and waved him over, "Can you get us a list of all complaints filed against KBG by the school board?"

"Of course. I'll have them to you ASAP." Detective Douglass said, then he moved to his office to bring up the files.

Hotch sighed, and then turned to Prentiss. "You said you had a list of all today's missing employees. We should cross reference that with the ones who called in sick, and maybe we'll get an idea of how many others are missing."

Prentiss nodded, and turned back to their meeting room. Everyone else followed close behind, and they all seemed more tired than normal, like a dark cloud hung over all of them.

--

It only took about a half hour for the team to figure out who was missing and who was accounted for. Jessica Goring was one of the many who called in sick, or rather, in her case, called in drunk. There were only 3 that were missing from work, and hadn't called. After a quick check from Garcia, who made a point not to talk to Reid, they knew that all three lived alone and had been into work the previous day. They'd made calls to their place of residence, and there was no answer from any of them.

There was a knock on the door, and the whole team looked up to see Detective Douglass standing there with a fair-sized stack of papers in his arms. "The complaints you requested. Sorry it took so long." He looked at the pile, "There's quite the handful." He strode in and placed the pile on the table. "Uhhh good luck." he said, and then turned and left.

The whole team gave a collective sigh. "This is getting us nowhere!" Morgan said in frustration.

Hotch nodded, "We know that there are three more possible victims, but your right, other than that, we don't know much more."

"How is looking through this," Morgan gestured towards the pile of complaints, "going to help us?"

"I don't know if it will… JJ, you should go release our profile to the press, and the rest of us will sort this out." JJ nodded, and left the room, while everyone else grabbed a few files and began to read.

--

JJ closed the door behind her and made her way over to Detective Douglass. "Sir, I need to release our profile to the press. Can you set up a press conference, for me?"

The detective almost laughed, "Well we don't have a local TV station if that's what you mean, Miss Jareau. The fastest way to get information out here would be the local radio station. Everyone listens to it."

"Radio?" Well that was a new one. She's never had to give a profile over just the radio alone.

Douglass nodded, "Your pretty face isn't going to help you on that one I'm afraid."

JJ laughed, "Thanks. So can you hook me up with the station then?"

"You bet. I should be able to get you in within the hour. Just sit tight, and I'll make the calls."

JJ smiled and left Douglass to make the calls, while she got some fresh air outside. She dug out her cell, dialled, and waited for the answer. "Hey Garcia. It's JJ. So have you found out what I asked?"

"_Of course I have. I had it for you just shortly after you left. I figured I'd wait for you to call me though. I didn't know when you'd be alone. I may be all powerful with my computers at my fingertips, but I can't read minds._"

"Great. Tell me everything."

Garcia began her spiel on all things Dilaudid. "_Adverse reactions can include weakness, agitation, uncoordinated muscle movements, mood swings, muscle tremor, blurred vision, and insomnia, to name a few. Overdose is usually characterized by respiratory depression, cold clammy skin, and constricted pupils. Serious overdose intravenously -- that's how Tobias took it right? -- is apnea, circulatory collapse, cardiac arrest, and death._" Garcia gulped and then continued, "_Withdrawal symptoms include, __severe anxiety, insomnia, muscle spasms, tremors, restlessness, yawning, irritability, anxiety, weakness, repetitive sneezing, and an increase in body temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate." _she paused to take a breath, _"Uhhg, remind me never to do drugs. Not that I ever would in the first place."  
_  
JJ nodded, even though Garcia couldn't see her. "I'll remember that. So what about the stuff with Hankel?"__

Garcia sighed, _"Near as I've been able to figure out he was still using at the time of the incident. There's really no way to tell how he got his supply exactly. From a dealer on the street I would assume. That all you need, Hun?_"

"Yeah, that's great, Garcia, thanks."

"_Of course, any time._" She paused. "_This doesn't have anything to do with Reid does it?_"

"No. Of course not, Garcia. I was just curious." She could usually always lie to the press if she had to, but lying to a friend was harder.

"_Alright. If you say so. Ciao. Talk to you later._" and she disconnected the line.

JJ sighed, turning back toward the building to see Detective Douglass standing at the door. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt." he said, "The meeting's been set; I can drive you over there right now."

"Alright, sounds good. I'll --" She was cut off.

Douglass held up a hand, "No need, I already told them you were leaving."

JJ paused, that wasn't what she was going to say. Hotch was the one that told her to go, so he would already know she was leaving. Now she was suspicious of the dear Detective. It seemed she was suspicious a lot lately. Perhaps she just needed some time to relax. "Okay… Well, let's go then." She let Detective Douglass lead the way to his car, and open the door for her. She sat down and began going over what she'd say when she arrived.


	8. Late Lunch

A/N: Hopefully this doesn't feel too rushed. I have no idea where I'm going from here, but I have to waste a whole day somehow. Need more filler stuff to get to where I'm going.

--

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

Chapter 8: Late Lunch

The radio announcement had been a new experience for JJ, but not entirely unwelcome. With it over and done with Detective Douglass was driving her back to the station. It seemed he had all the free time in the world to chauffeur her around the town. "What time is it?" JJ asked, trying to make small talk. She could have easily looked at her watch, or the clock on the dash of the car.

Douglass glanced sideways at her, "Too early to ask you for supper?" JJ's jaw dropped just slightly, and Douglass focussed back on the road. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

JJ shook her head, "No it's not that. I'm flatter really, it's just… I'm working."

"Ah, you're like any good cop. Work before play. I understand, I was like that when I was younger."

"You're still young." JJ replied with a smile.

"Perhaps physically, yes, but I feel old." He laughed, "So, no dinner then? Rain check, maybe?"

JJ nodded, "If I have time."

They continued the drive back to the station, talking about the simple things, like weather and sports.

--

The search of all the complaints against KBG had yielded nothing. None of them seemed serious enough to escalate to kidnapping. Hotch sighed glancing at the other team members. This simple kidnapping case wasn't so simple. Everyone looked tired, and stressed, and for what? A couple interviews, and paperwork?

They sat in silence, the ticking of the clock for company. Tick-tock, tick-tock, on and on. Hotch sighed for the second time and pushed the papers away from him. Prentiss sat, eyes unfocussed, on a complaint. Morgan was reclining in his chair, while Reid stared off into some unknown land that had formed on the opposite wall, and only he could see it. JJ hadn't returned yet but it had only been just over an hour, she should be due back at any moment.

It was like some higher power had heard all their prayers as the door swung open and then shut behind JJ. She smiled rather weakly at everyone, "Please," she said in a low tone, "don't ever leave me alone with him." She still wore this weak smile, so they knew she wasn't being completely serious.

It was enough to make Prentiss try and focus on something other than the papers in front of her, and Morgan looked intrigued. "Why?" he asked with a sly grin.

JJ chuckled slightly, "I think he likes me." She looked to Reid for his reaction, but he was still staring at the wall. She frowned, "Reid?" she asked slowly, drawing everyone's attention to him.

He blinked a couple times then looked over to her, "Oh, hi, JJ." His voice lacked emotion, and sound dry and cracked. "How'd it go?"

"Just fine." She nodded towards the silent radio in the corner of the room, "I'll be on the news every hour for the next couple days.

Hotch and Prentiss looked at JJ curiously, but it was Prentiss that spoke, "Radio? Only Radio? No TV media?"

JJ shook her head, "Radio's all they have in this town." She took a seat at the table. "So where did all this get us?" She was looking at the various complaint piles

"Nowhere." Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid said in unison. Hotch nodded in agreement.

JJ smiled weakly, "Well," she looked to Hotch, "we could break for a late lunch?"

Hotch stood from the table, "That sounds like a good idea, JJ. We all need to clear our heads and refocus."

"I hear you…" Morgan mumbled as he stood. Prentiss and Reid followed suit, Reid making sure he had his bag with him.

They stepped from their workroom and made their way towards the door when a voice called out to them. "Where are you folks off to?"

JJ sighed as the whole team turned to look at Detective Douglass. It was Hotch who spoke. "We're just heading out for a late lunch." He looked at his watch, it was just after 3pm.

Detective Douglass almost chuckled, "So that's how it is then." he said, addressing JJ, "You'll go out with the team but not with me."

JJ sighed, "I told you, work first. We're going to be talking about the case the whole time." Everyone nodded to back her up.

"Fine fine, I understand. What about tonight though? There's a great bar just down from your motel. Give me chance."

"I'll think about it." was all JJ replied before turning to leave the building with everyone else hot on her heels.

Once outside Morgan gave her a look, "You're right, he does like you."

JJ felt like saying 'Don't remind me.' but kept her mouth shut.

"It is a bit… creepy… for lack of a better word, how pushy he is though." Prentiss added.

A nod from JJ, "Yeah, a little creepy, but I think he's harmless." _At least I hope he's harmless_, she silently added.

--

They found a nice booth in the corner of a small diner, ordered their food and drinks, and turned their attention to the case.

"I say we've been right to focus on the employees, present or former, of the company. The school, though peeved, doesn't seem solid enough." Morgan said.

Hotch nodded, "So we're back to Chad Reynolds. We need to look into what his complaints against the company were. As much as I'd like to question him today, we need something solid before we bring him in, and if we start asking questions at his home he may get spooked, and we'll never get anything on him."

"Not to mention he has a wife and kids. Asking questions at his home could put them in danger too." Prentiss added. "We're getting tomorrows list of missing employees sent over in the morning. We can do the same thing we did with today's list and see what we're dealing with."

"There were two more unaccounted for yesterday, right?" Reid asked, finally tuning into the conversation. Hotch nodded in reply. "So that's a possible 7 victims in one day. I don't think we've seen such a large scale kidnapping before, that's not an immediate hostage situation."

Morgan nodded, "The workers will be getting off for the day soon. How many more do you think will be reported missing tonight?"

Reid shrugged, "It's hard to estimate without knowing why he's targeting these people. If it's simply because they work there, it hard to say. Just as many if not more, probably. If there's a more specific reason, he may be running low on people that fit that description."

"I hate to just give up for the day." JJ said with a sigh.

"Me too," Morgan replied, "But it's not looking like we have much of a choice until we get more info. And we won't get that until tomorrow."

"Well let's get Garcia to see if she can find any commonality between the victims we may have missed. It'll be something for tonight." Prentiss suggested. Hotch gave her a nod and she stood, as their food and drinks arrived, to go make the call.

"After we eat we'll go check into our motel, and rest for a while. We need to be focused if we're going to get anything done." Hotch said. Focused - that seemed to be the word of the day. _…keep him focused_, he'd been told that earlier today. Hotch wondered vaguely if he was doing a good job of that.

They began to eat as Prentiss returned, "Garcia says she'll look into it, but she doubts if she'll be able to find it all tonight. Connections between some of them, yes, but not all. We'll have to wait till morning for that anyway."

Reid reached forward to pick up his drink, "It'll take her that long?" He lifted the glass to his lips, and sucked on the straw as his hand started to shake. _Not again!_ he thought. Prentiss simply nodded, while piling some food from her plate onto her fork. She seemed not to notice Reid's shakes, and he took advantage of that. Setting his glass down he put his hands under the table and held his own hand, trying to massage the shakes out. He was too preoccupied to notice that JJ was looking at him curiously.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"What was what about?" He answered her question with a question, trying to keep his voice calm. By not the rest of the team had their eyes moving back and forth between him and JJ.

"Your hand was shaking, Spence."

"Oh… that. I haven't eaten all day…" Reid closed his eyes as the team sighed in response. "I know, I know, you don't need to tell me. I forgot to this morning," he gulped silently, "after Gideon called. I was too scattered. And then we were on the case… I just need to get some food into my system and I'll be fine." He gave them his best sincere smile. He wasn't lying, not completely. He _had_ forgotten to eat, perhaps that was why he was reacting to the drug differently today.

"Reid, buddy, we know it's hard for you right now, but eating is one of those basic functions you shouldn't forget. I don't think any of us," Morgan glanced around the team, "want to mother you. We know you don't need it, nor will you like it. My advice: don't make it so that we have to."

Reid nodded and started to eat in silence. That was long enough, this time, for the twitching and shaking to stop. He almost hated to admit Morgan's 'lecture' was the perfect diversion.

--

Hotch stepped out of the motel office, 3 sets of keys in his hand. "We get 3 rooms between the 5 of us. Two rooms, with 2 double beds each, and one room with 1 double bed."

Prentiss and JJ looked to each other and nodded. It was only natural the girls bunked together. Hotch caught their look and passed them the key to room 12.

"Hey Reid, bunk with me then?" Morgan asked, "Let Hotch have a room to himself."

Reid turned to Hotch ignoring Morgan, "Actually, would it be alright if I took the single?"

Before Hotch could answer, Morgan had rolled his eyes and started up, "Reid. Let Hotch have the room, man. I'm sure he'd prefer to have a room to himself, rather than bunking with me."

Reid was about to reply, _What makes you think I'd want to bunk with you?_ And go into a large spiel about all Morgan's done lately is badger him, and make him feel like a useless child, but he never got the chance.

_Don't agitate him. Let him have what he wants. He's going to be upset as it is, do your best to calm him, and keep him focused._ The voice went through Hotch's head again and he held up a hand to stop Reid from speaking. "You can have the room." He kept the key's marked 11, in his hand and handed Reid key for the suite at the end of the row, #19. "Ok everyone, rest up, relax, go over the case as much as you can, then get a good night's sleep. We're going to need it."


	9. The Club

A/N: This is where I start twisting things to suit my needs and it all goes downhill. After all the case isn't the main focus of this fic. The focus is Reid. The case eases us into Reid's struggles. Basically what I'm trying to say is, don't expect them to solve this case by the book. Expect some slacking off and fun just because it gives me the chance to do horrible things to Reid. Ha ha.  
Also big huge help to PanicButton for helping me sort out my thoughts, and stopping me from deleting this chapter and starting over. I love you! (I also blame her for twisting my mind so much with her series of stories, that I've definitely 'taken a leaf from her book' so-to-speak, and used it in here. That, and she gave me the idea for the end of this chapter.)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is wonderful... but not mine.

* * *

Chapter 9: The Club

Reid lay on the bed in the motel room, staring at the ceiling, wondering how the hell they were supposed to relax when they hardly knew anything that was going to help them solve this case. He went over the facts in his head, one-by-one. Nothing seemed to be clicking. They had a partial profile, and one suspect. Did their suspect even match the profile? They needed more hard facts about Chad Reynolds before they could even consider questioning him.

He tried to tell himself that Garcia was looking into it, and as soon as she had everything she'd let them know. That didn't help the anxiety that was slowly creeping in around the edges of his mind and body. He just needed to calm down; to think straight. Everything was going to be fine. They'd catch their kidnapper, hopefully before anyone else got hurt.

He sat up and swung his legs to one side, sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment before sliding down to kneel on the floor. He chewed his lower lip for a few short, tense, moments before reaching for his bag. Opening the flap he reached in and searched, feeling for that familiar cold bottle of liquid. Pulling it out he stared at the contents. Yeah, probably only one and a half doses left. He tried to do a quick calculation. Picking up 2 new phials at 4pm on Sunday. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table, 6:13pm. That meant from now, till the time of pick up, there was 45 hours and 47 minutes. Just over 15 hours per half dose. If he took that available half dose now, it could tide him over until 9am. After that, 1 full dose would have to last 30 hours. Being used to taking a dose every 24 hours it was going to be a tough road, but 30 hours would last until 3pm.

Weighing his options, he continued to chew on his lower lip. If he toughed it out a little longer the dose wouldn't have to last 30 hours. However, his brain was about to explode from too much worry and thought about this case. It would make him sloppy, and he couldn't afford to be sloppy. The drugs would set him straight. Clear his head. Perhaps make space for him to look at this from a new perspective. Yes, it would help.

He unbuttoned the cuff of his right sleeve and rolled it up, once again grimacing at the sight before him. It was always this moment, when he was looking at his arm, that the doubt came. The moments before, and the moments after, he was completely certain this was what he _wanted_ to do. Not needed, but wanted. It was just now when he had the doubt. It was an all-consuming doubt, that could either terrify you, or dig deep within yourself to find the strength to push through it. This was what Spencer Reid did. He found the strength and came out on top. He reached into his bag and pulled out another sterile packaged needle & syringe, and his tourniquet. Moving from kneeling to sitting cross-legged he stared at the items in front of him. His brain too overloaded to even remember what he was supposed to do first. He was so tired, but sleep wouldn't come.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, sort his thoughts, then reached for the tourniquet. Tying it tight he reached for the phial and syringe when the pounding started. It took him a moment to realise that for once the pounding wasn't inside his own head, but at the door. He silently cursed as he quickly removed the tourniquet, and rolled down his sleeve. He stood, making his way around the bed and to the door. Once there he glanced back making sure everything was out of sight, and then opened the door.

JJ and Prentiss stood outside it, and Reid breathed in the cool evening air before addressing them. "Did we get something?" he asked, referring to any new information on the case.

They both shook their heads and JJ spoke, "Not exactly. Not at all, actually. Just thought we'd invite you along."

"Where?" Reid asked with a sceptical look.

"Some bar or club, just down the road. Detective Douglass came right to our room to ask me." JJ said with a sigh, "I didn't want to go at all, but definitely not alone so Emily offered to come with me. We went to tell Morgan and Hotch we were leaving, and Morgan insisted he come too. Then Hotch decided he would join us, for whatever reason. So now we're asking if you'd like to come too?" JJ was almost out of breath once she finished, clearly wanting to have gotten through the story quickly.

Reid shook his head, "You guys know I don't like being in such social settings. And I'm still dwelling too much on Gideon not being here, I'll only drag the mood down. I'll pass." He was about to shut the door when Morgan turned up outside the door, behind JJ and Prentiss.

"Come on, Genius. Even you can't work all the time and not have some fun. Just join us… please?" The pleased seemed to just be a formality. Morgan looked like he was prepared to drag Reid with them, kicking and screaming, just so that Reid wouldn't be cooped up all alone.

Reid feebly fumbled for an excuse, "I never packed anything suitable for a night out."

Morgan laughed, "I don't think you own anything suitable for a night out anyway, so that makes no difference."

Reid sighed, realising he was going to be fighting a losing battle if he kept this up. "Fine. Just give me a few moments okay?" He didn't wait for an answer before closing the door and returning to his row of goodies on the floor.

He gave a sigh and shook his head. "Not tonight it seems." he said while looking at the phial. "At least, not yet." Great. Now he was talking to inanimate objects! He really was loosing his mind. He turned his back on it and walked towards the en suite bathroom. He ran his fingers through his hair, straightening it as best he could. He walked back into the bedroom/living room and stared down at the phial and syringe. He still wanted it… Maybe… No that would be a stupid idea.

He walked passed them to the door, picking up his room key off the table next to it. He slipped the key into the breast pocket on his shirt and reached for the door handle, knowing everything would be safe in the room while he was gone. He hadn't noticed earlier, but the door handle was cool to the touch, just like the phial of liquid he so desperately wanted. He almost cried out in frustration, and he glanced back across the room, chewing his bottom lip again.

One beat… Two… Three… Reid stalked back across the room and knelt to pick up the phial and syringe. He put one in one pocket of his pants and one in the other. The syringe was almost impossible to see form the outside once it was hidden in the pocket. The phial, on the other hand, left a bulge, though it didn't seem too out of place. Hopefully it would go unnoticed. He knew it would be safe if he left it behind, but the thought of not having the phial with him was almost terrifying. He patted his pocket with a content sigh, and then left his suite, locking the door behind him.

* * *

It was a small bar/club. There was a dance floor, a long bar, and many booths and tables scattered about. It seemed to cater to all walks of life a town would have, like it was the only place to hang out on a Friday night. There was the Goth crowd in one spot of the dance floor, the average college kids in another, the older crowd gather someone the floor some at the bar and tables. Then there was a group of clubbers, male and female, dancing with members of the same sex. This was definitely the town's hot spot, and everyone seemed to accept everyone else's lifestyle without question. That's not to say there wasn't the occasional fight between crowds, but this seemed to be a place where everyone could mingle in relative peace. If you could count the constant barrage of rap, rock, country, jazz, and club mixes peaceful.

The BAU team found a semi-circle booth near the dance floor to sit and it wasn't long before a waitress came over to get their drink orders. Hotch just wanted a water, Morgan ordered a beer, JJ decided on a strawberry margarita, Prentiss a Mott's Clamato Caesar and Reid: "I'll have a soda, please. Um… Mountain Dew?" The waitress smiled at him and walked away. There was a two second pause before Morgan started laughing and the other's chuckled.

"Reid, man, I can understand Hotch declining to drink." He glanced at Hotch showing he meant no offence by the statement. Hotch nodded once in response. "I would have liked to see you indulge a little though."

Reid shook his head, "We're on a case! We shouldn't even be here."

"And what else are we supposed to do while we wait for the information we need?" Morgan asked him. "We can just as easily go over our facts again and again here as we could in one of our motel rooms. At least here we've got a good beat to accompany us. Not to mention we couldn't exactly leave JJ to fend for herself against the daring detective." He playfully elbowed JJ as their drinks arrived.

"Speak of the devil." JJ muttered nodding towards a man heading their way. She looked down at her drink as he stood next to the table and cleared his throat. He didn't say anything until she looked up at him.

"I didn't know you were bringing all your friends too." He gave everyone at the table a smile.

"I did tell you we were working. So I brought work with me." She took a sip of her drink.

"Well, will you at least join me for a dance?" the detective asked.

JJ nodded, though it was clear to her team members she didn't want to. "One dance."

Detective Douglass nodded, "Now good?"

JJ nodded in return, "Sure, if you're willing to use it up right off the bat. If not," she glanced at her team members, "you're welcome to join us for a bit."

The detective seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Ok, I'll wait."

Everyone in the crescent shaped booth shifted over slightly. Reid on the end, Hotch closer to Reid, Morgan closer to Hotch, JJ closer to Morgan, Prentiss closer to JJ, and Douglass took a seat on the other end facing Reid. He ordered a drink, and soon they were all talking lazily about their lives. All save for Reid. What was he supposed to say? _'Hi, I'm struggling with drug dependency. My mother's schizophrenic and there's always a chance I could be too. This morning I got a phone call from the man who's like a surrogate father, who said he was leaving, hardly gave me a chance to say anything, and then was gone. Just left me during one of the hardest times in my life. Like everyone does eventually.'_ No he definitely couldn't say that.

Every so often one member of the team would look at Reid and sigh inwardly. His silence was saddening. They all knew he wasn't going to be very talkative. He was doubly awkward in large crowds. So he just sat there, sipping his Mountain Dew through a straw. Perhaps if it was just them, no Detective Douglass, and they had a booth tucked in a corner he would speak, but this was too uncomfortable for him, and each of them silently kicked themselves for bringing him along. None of them knew how much of a life-saving decision it really was.

Reid sat lost in thought about many things and nothing at the same time. Occasionally he would wipe his palms on his thighs; they were sweaty. There was the odd moment he would tune in to the conversation, but mostly he would stare at the table or a spot in mid air over the dance floor and watch the world go by, like he had back at the station.

Out of anyone at the table the dear detective had drank the most, but when he stood he didn't seem at all inebriated "Well miss, would you care to have that dance now?" He asked JJ with a smile. "I think I've behaved, and stayed patient for the last 2 hours."

JJ couldn't deny that he had. "You're right, I owe you. Just one dance though. _One_, remember. I'll met you on the floor."

Douglass silently agreed and turned to leave the table. Prentiss slid from the booth to let JJ out, and JJ sighed as she stood. "He's really not my type."

Prentiss laughed, "Really? You were the one that said he was attractive earlier."

"Hmmm, that's true I did. Shoot, you think he heard that, and that's why he's doing all this?" JJ didn't really expect an answer, and she didn't get one. She gave the team a wish-me-luck expression and turned towards the floor to meet up with the detective.

Everyone watched intently as they talked for a moment in the distance, once again, except for Reid. Reid stood and mumbled something about going to the bathroom as he finished his third Mountain Dew. He tried to keep his head down as he walked, glancing up only occasionally to make sure he wasn't about to run into anything. He glanced along the wall, studying the patterns in the paint job until his gaze met another. He quickly looked away not wanting to offend anyone before shouldering open the door to the men's restroom.

It was disgusting, but apparently all bar washrooms were. One toilet was flooding, the wallpaper was yellowed and peeling, and the stench wasn't easy to get used to. It seemed the club spent all it's money everywhere except the washrooms. There was one other occupant who was washing his hands as Reid entered, and then left without drying them. Reid chose the farthest urinal from the door and stepped up to it, unzipping his fly to do his business. The door opened but Reid paid no attention to the person until they stepped up to the urinal next to him. Of all the ones, this strange man had to choose _that_ one.

Reid glanced over and then back to the wall in front of him quickly. Despite his height, all Reid had seen was a neck. A rather large, muscular neck.

"I saw you looking at me out there." The man said, he didn't sound scary, or harmful, that was comforting.

"I-I-I-I-I'm sorry." Reid stammered, "I hadn't meant to."

* * *

Out on the dance floor, JJ and the detective danced. Douglass had placed his hand on JJ's hips and held her in a firm grip with just over a foot between them. That was a good distance JJ decided, one she could live with. Douglass smiled at her and she returned it with a little less enthusiasm. The song continued.

* * *

The man almost chuckled, "It's fine. You're awfully nervous. I can see you're new at this." Reid heard the zip from beside him as the man finished up and turned towards him. "I could help you out if you want?"

Reid shook his head and zipped as well, "T-That's okay, I'm not interested." His head was swarming again and he just needed this man to go away so he could relax.

* * *

Detective Douglass repositioned his hands on JJ, and dipped her low. "Having fun?" He asked with a smile.

* * *

"Oh come on!" the man said rolling his eyes, "Don't play hard to get, it's not fun." He took a step towards Reid, who took a step back to keep the distance equal, and ran into the wall.

"I told you." Reid said trying to keep his voice firm. "I'm not interested. You've got the wrong idea."

The man shook his head, "You can't be serious? Pretty boy like you? All that glorious hair?" Reid shook his head. "Well…" the man paused for dramatic effect. "maybe you're open to new things? Willing to take suggestions?" He stepped closer, cutting the distance between them like a knife.

* * *

Still they danced, and Douglass had returned his hands to JJ's hips, pulling her a little closer now. "Has anyone ever told you how good you smell?"

"Umm, no." JJ shook her head.

"Hmmm, well you smell like strawberries."

JJ grimaced, but the detective had his eyes closed and didn't see. "I can assure you, it was only my margarita." She put pressure on his arms to tell him to back off as his hands dipped below her waist.

Back at the table Prentiss, who had been sitting in Reid's spot to watch the floor, stood. "I'll be back," She stalked over to the dance floor.

* * *

"Please don't." Reid hated that it sounded like he was begging. He was an FBI agent for Christ's sake! This shouldn't be happening. It's not like he brought his gun with him, that would have been stupid, but now he wished he had.

The man hooked a finger into Reid's belt loop and tugged. "You don't mean that."

Hot breath on his ear as he turned his head away. Yes, yes he did mean it! He wished he had the physical strength to push him away but he didn't, he simply didn't. He had to stop himself from whimpering as a hand touched the front of his slacks. It stayed there for a few moments, and Reid blocked out it's movements until it stopped. One hand held his shoulder firmly, while the other now worked on his belt. This wasn't supposed to be happening. "Please." he said again. "Don't do this."

* * *

Prentiss roughly pushed Douglass away from JJ. "I think that's enough."

"But the song's not over yet." Douglass countered.

Prentiss stood with her hand in fist on her hips, and waited a few beats. "Now it is. Sorry, tough luck." She looked at JJ who mouthed a 'thank you.'

Morgan slid from the booth and looked at Hotch. "I think it's time to go, wouldn't you agree?"

Hotch nodded and slid out as well, "Agreed."

"I'll get Reid then." Morgan offered, and then turned towards the bathrooms while Hotch waited for Prentiss and JJ.

* * *

The man shook his head, "You're pathetic. I told you it was no fun to play hard to get." The man pulled Reid close, almost into an embrace and plucked his wallet from his back pocket. "S'pose I'll just nick your money then?" He still held Reid firmly with one hand as he looked at the outside of the wallet. "So let's just see who you are, where you live…" He taunted Reid with his words as he flipped the wallet open with his thumb and glanced at the ID. His next words were a series of profanity as he dropped the wallet, which landed open, and took 3 giant steps back.

* * *

Morgan had to sidestep quickly as a man came barrelling out of the men's washroom. He stopped watching the man's retreat for a few seconds before opening the door just in time to see Reid slide down the wall on the far side. There was a complete look of fear and panic in Reid's eyes, but his posture seemed relaxed. Morgan stepped up to him and took in the scene. Reid's wallet laying on the floor, Reid against the wall, Reid's belt partially undone. "What the hell happened?" he said what he was thinking.

"I-I-I'm fine." Reid pushed out, then patted his pockets, everything was intact, yep, he was fine.

Morgan picked up Reid's wallet and crouched in front of him. He handed him the wallet which Reid took. "I didn't ask if you were fine, which automatically tells me that you're not. So what happened?"

"N-Nothing, he was just horribly mistaken. Thought I… But no… And then the wallet… Scared him off." Reid smiled weakly.

"Did he do anything to you?" Morgan's face was laced with concern.

"N-No… not really. I'm fine." He fixed his belt and sighed, turning to look Morgan in the eyes. "I just want to go home, Derek." He called Morgan by his first name, making Morgan pause.

"Yeah, we're all leaving anyway. Douglass tried to pull some moves on JJ… It's definitely time to go. I'll take you back to your room." He considered his next words carefully. "I'll stay with you if you want."

Reid shook his head and stood with a slight support from Morgan. "That won't be necessary, but thank you." He put his wallet back in his pocket. The motel wasn't the "home" he wanted to go to.

Morgan silently accepted this and walked side by side out of the room with Reid to meet up with the team.


	10. Relief

A/N: Sorry for this SHORT chapter!! Been busy, and I had a BAD day today… so this might be an interesting chapter. A pure reflection on my thoughts/feelings.

Disclaimer: CM is NOT mine.

* * *

Chapter 10: Relief

Reid had said his goodbyes to Morgan at his motel room door. Once again Morgan had tried to be a good friend, offering to stay with Reid if he needed it, but Morgan's kindness had become almost unbearable. Morgan even had the audacity to take it one step further then it needed to go. He'd turned and walked away while Reid fumbled with his keys and the lock, but didn't get far. Stopping and looking back he'd added the words, "I _know_." to the end of their conversation. Reid had simply shook his head, and let himself inside, slamming the door behind him. Morgan didn't know what had happened, and if Morgan was going to assume it at all reflected what had happened to him as a kid, then he was sorely mistaken. As far as Reid was concerned, nothing had happened. Nothing, zip, zilch, zero, nada.

If it was nothing, though, then why was he now suddenly finding himself digging into his pockets and pulling out the needle from one and the phial from the other? He didn't even bother to calculate what his hours were now. He held the items in one hand and crawled onto the bed, he knew he should grab the tourniquet from the floor on the other side of the bed, but it was just simply too far away. He lay down, propped up slightly by the headboard, and smiled at the objects in his hand. He needed to make everything go away, just for a little while, and this was how.

Abandoning his usual careful precision, he inserted the needle through the stopper in the phial, and drew out half a cc. Just enough to make everything go away for a while. He put the phial on the counter and rolled up his sleeve. His vision blurred as a single tear streaked down his cheek. He brushed it angrily away on his shoulder, and blinked a few times, making more tears fall, but clearing his sight. He hardly noticed the prick of the needle entering his skin before he injected the small amount into his system.

The force of the drug not being held back by a tourniquet hit him like a runaway 18-wheeler into a reinforced brick wall. Ten bricks thick, just because. Now he remembered why the tourniquet was used. He hardly had enough sense about him to remove the needle and toss it on the floor by his bag before he went into his state of semi-consciousness. A moan of gratification departed from his lips from the sheer blissful feeling he got. Everything shutting down, no longer having to worry about feeling pain, or suffering. He was dead to those feelings, and that was just the way he liked it.

He briefly thought of Gideon, what would he think, seeing him like this? A puff of air through the nose, not quite a laugh. He'd probably be disgusted, but right now Spencer didn't care. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew Gideon wouldn't turn away, or hate him, but his rational thought was severely lacking right now. He'd made the pain go away and that's all that mattered. No one would hurt him now, no one could, even if they tried. With those thoughts he drifted into a painless slumber, tears still slowly trickling down his face, but without a care in the world.

* * *

A/N: 666 words, including A/N's, on this Halloween morning.  
This chapter always brings me close to tears when I re-read it. This was something I really needed to write, and get out of my system. Reid's a complete extension of myself, and my emotions that day.


	11. Tempers Rising

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is amazing. However it is not from my own mind. I own it not.

Chapter 11: Tempers Rising

Reid woke occasionally throughout the night to switch positions, but never enough to be considered fully conscious. He finally opened his eyes groggily to the sound of more pounding. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table, 9:23am. He'd actually slept the full night? And more then 12 hours of sleep at that. That was a new development.

He focused his eyes, as the pounding continued and his name was called, and noticed the phial on the bedside table. Slowly he sat up, grabbing the phial and trying to remember exactly what he'd done last night. More slow movements as he sat on the edge of the bed. He felt something squish under his feet as he stood, the rubber tourniquet. He bent and scooped that up, then noticed the used syringe a few feet away. He tucked the two items he had into his bag, took two steps to grab the syringe, and tossed it into the trash bin.

The pounding grew more persistent. "I'm coming!" Reid finally snapped, as he walked toward the bathroom. He could once again come to the conclusion that he looked like death. With a sigh he let his sluggish movements take him to the door. Opening it he was greeted with a hesitant looking JJ, and a Morgan who looked like he was about to kick the door in. "What?" Reid asked, looking at the ground, his tone sharp, though his voice was rough.

"We're… no, correction, you're late. We should already be at the station. Finally decided to come drag you out of bed." Morgan sounded none too pleased.

Reid looked up and Morgan's face changed from one of frustration to concern, as did JJ's. "You alright man?" Morgan asked. "You don't look too hot."

"I'm fine. Just… give me 10 minutes, okay?" He pinched and rubbed at the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, like he was trying to fight off the start of a headache. A headache that, for him, wouldn't hurt.

"Fine, 10 minutes, that's it." Morgan still wasn't overly happy, and it showed as he turned and walked back toward his room. JJ stayed, and stepped closer to the door.

Reid turned from watching Morgan leave to looking at JJ, "What do you want?"

"You look like hell, Spence." She stated simply.

"Hmph, thanks for the news flash, JJ. Already came to that conclusion, though, so if that's all…" He began to start closing the door.

"No, wait!" JJ put her hand out to stop him, "Look at me…" Reid did, though he wasn't sure why. "Reid, you're pupils are dilated, and you look like you're about to pass out. Are you sure--"

"Yes! I'm fine! Just leave it be, JJ!" Reid snapped.

JJ sighed, shaking her head, "I thought I knew you, but I have no idea who you are anymore." She gave him one last look before she turned to join the others in Hotch and Morgan's room.

Reid closed the door, and moved back toward the centre of the room. He opened his overnight bag and pulled out a comb and a change of clothes. Leaving the clothes on the bed he brought the comb with him to the bathroom. No time to shower, but he could at least make his hair decent. He studied himself in the mirror. JJ was right, his pupils were dilated. He'd have to monitor that. He quickly straightened his hair, and went back into the bedroom to change. Today's dress was brown cords, paired with a light blue checker shirt, light blue tie, and one of his favourite sweater vests, in brown. He didn't wear them as much these days, and now it was a comforting item, full of remembrance of better days. His socks were both plain, one orange and one green. He checked himself out in a mirror, and deemed himself suitable for leaving the room. Other aspects of his personal hygiene would have to wait for when he had more time.

He smiled at his reflection. He looked like he used to, before everything started going from bad to worse. It was just a ruse, of course, but it made him feel better, and forget, for the time being, that he was so screwed up.

Reid met everyone by the SUV, Morgan and JJ both glanced at him then looked away. Hotch and Prentiss stayed watching him, not bothering to hide the concern on their faces. Though none of them could ignore the picture of innocence he seemed to be giving off, just like they all remembered. Messenger bag and all.

The ride to the station was mostly silent, but it was short, so the silence wasn't long enough to become unnerving. They all avoided Detective Douglass as they piled into their work room, and sat down. The list of the day's missing employees had been faxed over and was already sitting on the table in the middle of the room, along with 2 reports. This gave Hotch a place to start, he picked up the reports, thumbing through them, and sighed. "Two more reported missing. That's seven total reported, and 2 still unknown."

He'd noticed the tension between Morgan and JJ to Reid, and sighed. "Reid, Prentiss I'd like you two to look through the missing employees list, same as yesterday, and find out who else in unaccounted for. Garcia couldn't give us much on commonality, but what we do know we can use. See if you can get her to find the same connection with anyone else you find missing, and these new two. Morgan, JJ, and I--"

"Wait." Reid interrupted, "When did we find out the victims commonality?"

"When you were still in bed, Reid." Hotch stated simply, not trying to be rude, just straightforward. "You missed the morning meeting." Reid looked down, embarrassed, while Hotch continued. "Morgan, JJ, and I will go to the company and talk to the employees. Maybe some of them will know something not on record." He looked to Morgan and JJ to see if they agreed and they both nodded and stood.

* * *

The three agents entered the office building and went straight to the front desk. Shirley, the receptionist, looked up at them with her usual smile, the same way she greeted everyone. "You must be more FBI guys. Kind of remind me of the other two but more… official." She scanned JJ shortly, then Hotch, and finally lingering on Morgan. "Official, and tough. What do you need?"

Morgan smiled at her, "We need to know a few things about the missing people, and the departments they were in."

"Talk to Janette. She's got everything at her fingertips. I just answer phones, and tell people where to go. Third floor, straight back." she sighed.

"Thank you." Hotch answered. They carried on to the elevator, pressed the up arrow and waited.

* * *

He picked at his nails, chewed on his lip, shifted nervously side-to-side, waiting for the elevator to let him out at his stop. The doors opened on the main floor and he glanced up at the 3 figures who entered. FBI, he could tell, he just knew things like that. He looked warily at the two men, and began to sweat. Had they figured it out so soon? No, impossible, he was careful, meticulous, they didn't know yet. If they did they'd already be arresting him. The female gave him a small smile, and he smiled back, before sliding out of the elevator. Leaving them to their business, and him to his.

* * *

Hotch, Morgan, and JJ looked at each other each raising a brow at the strange little man once the door closed. "Weird." Morgan commented, and pushed the button for the third floor.

JJ nodded, "Yeah, probably just shy though. A lot of people are uncomfortable around people of authority."

Hotch silently agreed, and Morgan sighed, "Yeah, I know. Still gave me the creeps though."

"This whole town has more than it's fair share of creeps, in my opinion." JJ countered.

"True." Morgan sighed again, thinking of the psychotic man who was now in an institute, and of what the dear Detective did, or almost did, to JJ, and what Reid denied had happened in the bathroom. Top all that off with this serial kidnapper, and this town was certainly messed up. Probably more so than any other town of the same size.

The doors binged open on the third floor and they moved through the isle, and the people going about their day, to the back section. Janette was just getting off the phone again, and she smiled up at them standing up to greet them. She was in red today, and it sparkled. Again she wore matching way too tall heels, for her way too short dress. She smiled at Hotch, and then Morgan, staring at him as she spoke. "What do you need, boys…" then she noticed JJ, "…and, girl?" She looked back to Morgan.

Hotch directed her attention away from Morgan and on to him, "We now have seven missing people, Miss. Can you bring up which departments they worked in? We need to talk to the people in the same department."

Janette nodded, "Of course, just give me two sec's." She glanced at Morgan again with a sly smirk, and sat back down, clicking her nails on her keyboard, then hitting print. She rolled her chair a foot to her left, over to the printer and waited for the page. Once printed she handed it to Hotch. "Need anything else, just let me know."

"Thank you, we will." Hotch replied and they all left the reception area to congregate outside the door, deciding who would go where, and what they needed to find out.

* * *

Prentiss and Reid called number after number, getting a reply after each one. They sighed, not sure if they should feel defeated, or relieved no one else had gone missing, and wasn't being missed by anyone. Next on the agenda was finding out if these 2 new victims had anything in common with the others. Prentiss called up Garcia and gave her the names, one was a druggie, like a couple of the others, and the other was a small time prostitute. It seemed she worked the streets on her days off, had been picked up a couple times, doesn't have a pimp. Just needed extra cash on the side. Supposedly wasn't into the drug scene though, so no connection there.

They had nothing to connect these two, and only minor things to connect them to the other victims. Even worse, there were still a few who had no record of any illegal or illicit activity, and seemed to be fine, upstanding citizens. So what was the connection? There had to be more to it than being simply random.

Reid and Prentiss sat and discussed, and argued, and agreed, trying to work it out. They needed more than just their brain power to figure this one out. So now it was simply a waiting game until the others returned.

After a some silence, Prentiss turned and looked at Reid. She had luck yesterday trying to get him to open up, maybe she'd have more luck today. "So," she started, "what exactly happened yesterday at the club? Morgan didn't tell us, just said it was bad. I think he told Hotch, but I'm not sure." Reid mumbled and Prentiss leaned closer. "What?"

"Whatever Derek said to Hotch is wrong. Nothing happened." Reid repeated.

"Are you sure? I mean you looked--"

"Of course I'm sure, Emily! I think I'd know if something happened to me." Reid snapped, a nasty habit he had these days.

"Okay!" Prentiss raised her hands, palms facing away from her, "It's just you seemed really depressed, and… not quite all there this morning."

"I told you yesterday I hadn't been sleeping well. I'm just tired."

Prentiss frowned, had he been unable to sleep he would have been at their morning meeting, so this didn't make sense. She went out on a limb, "You slept well last night though, didn't you?"

Reid glared at her, "So what if I did? Since when are my sleeping patterns any of your business, anyway!?"

Prentiss lost her professional edge, and glared right back. "When it starts affecting how well you do your job, it's my business. It's all of our business because we're a team! You know the saying, we're only as strong as our weakest link. It's true, and right now, I think that's you!" She regretted the words after she said them, but didn't deny the truth in them. She kept her gaze focused on Reid, gauging his reaction.

Reid shook his head and looked away as she spoke, then slowly, deliberately turned his head back at the end of her accusatory sentence. His glare was more intense, his teeth were clenched, and his jaw set tight. He spoke through gritted teeth, "You. Know. Nothing. Nothing, Emily! Nothing! You're the new one here, not me." He stood and Prentiss stood to match him, this had definitely backfired on her, big time. "You think you know what I'm going through, you all think you know, but none of you have any idea."

"So tell us!" Her voice was now pleading, and no longer full of rage.

"You haven't earned it. None of you have earned it, especially not recently."

"Reid, come on… Please… Stop acting like we haven't even tried! We have! And you've shot us down each time, so don't blame this all on us." She tried to stay calm.

"Right, so now this is all my fault?"

"That's not what I said, Reid! We're all to blame in some way, and yes that includes you, but--"

"Oh, just shut up! I can't listen to your logic, or lack thereof, right now." He turned away.

"Reid--"

"I said, shut up!" He spun, like he had the day previous when he smacked her hand away, but this time the flat of his palm connected with her face. He didn't even seemed phased by his actions, not like yesterday. Now he just turned and walked to the other end of the room, placing his palms flat against the wall, and leaning on it. Head down, hair hiding his face, as he worked to control his breathing.


	12. The Pain Of Withdrawal

Disclaimer: I love CM, but it isn't mine.

* * *

Chapter 12: The Pain Of Withdrawal

Prentiss stepped back, clearly surprised, a hand to her jaw. She rubbed the spot, looking at Reid's back as he leaned, palms flat, arms straight out, against the wall. She worked her jaw, trying to stretch it out as her phone rang. She answered it with a shaky hand. "Prentiss."

It was JJ who replied, _"Just checking in with you guys, wanted to see how it was going. Find anything useful?"_"No, nothing. We're still struggling with working out a common factor in all the victims. Some have connections, and some don't. It's completely scattered, and… unpredictable." She glanced up at Reid back again; he didn't seem to be paying any attention.

JJ sighed, _"Well, we're just waiting for Morgan and we'll be on our way back. We can try to figure out what to do then."_

"Sounds good, JJ. Uh, don't be long okay?" Prentiss added before hanging up. She glanced at Reid again not sure if she should be angry or concerned. That aggressive act was so out of character for him. Something had to be seriously wrong.

Reid stood, so many thoughts flowing through his mind, breathing heavy. _What the hell did I just do? Why did I do that? That's not me… I don't… do that…_ He was sweating slightly, and he licked his lips tasting the salt. What time was it? He glanced at his watch, almost 11am. He tried to remember when he had taken his half dose last night, but everything was fuzzy. It had been over 12 hours though. In fact, he'd slept right through those 12 hours. He could make a full dose last 24 hours, so logically 12 for a half dose. This was why he always took it in the morning, so he wouldn't sleep through the main event, so-to-speak. He hurt, and was sweating buckets now. Hot flashes were one of many withdrawal symptoms, but there was no way he could rectify this problem right now. He did a mental check of any other withdrawal symptoms he was having. Sweating was one, and JJ had said his pupils were dilated this morning, good chance they still were. Add in the fact that his eyes were starting to water and there were 3, right there. However he couldn't be completely sure his watering eyes weren't actually due to how he was feeling about slapping Prentiss. He still had a hard time believing that was actually him.

He pushed off the wall, swaying slightly and turned to look at Prentiss, confused. "They… they got anything?" He looked at the phone in her hand, his voice shaky. Prentiss simply shook her head. Reid nodded, and it made his head hurt. He swayed again, "Emi… Emily, I…"

Prentiss held up a hand, "Don't say anything, Reid." There was a red mark on the side of her face, but it didn't look like anything specific. "I don't know what you're going through, but you clearly need more help than any of us can offer. I tried to help, but now I'm through. I know Morgan's tried, and JJ, Gideon, but he's not here… How many of us are you going to push away before you realise what you're doing?"

Reid was slightly speechless, but was terribly distracted by his body starting to shake. "I-I-I never… I never meant… to hurt anyone." He took a shaky step towards a chair at the table and rested his hands on the back, trying to steady himself.

Prentiss didn't want to hear anything more he had to say, but she couldn't help but notice how unsteady he suddenly was. Her caring side came back out again. "Reid…" She sighed, hating to say this again, "Are you okay?"

Reid took a couple deep, shuddering breaths, hair sticking to his face, and shook his head. "I think… I'm going to emesis…"

Prentiss furrowed her brow, "To what?"

Reid looked up at her, a pained expression on his face. "To vomit, Prentiss! To throw up!" He looked back down breathing hard and shallow.

The realisation hit Prentiss and her eyes widened, "Come on." She stepped up to him, slipping her arm around him, and took some of his weight on her. "You're not going to make it to the washroom by yourself."

Reid reluctantly agreed, and let himself be led out of the room and to the nearest washroom.

* * *

Morgan met up with JJ and Hotch looking pleased. "I think I got something. Woman that works alongside one of our girls, she said the last time she saw her she was heading down to get some free cake. Someone in the department was having a birthday. Received an email invite. I already checked her computer, e-mail's no longer there."

Hotch nodded, "Good work, if we can get the hard drives to Garcia she should be able to bring up the deleted files. It would be worth a try to get her to check out all the victims computers. Could be that's how our unsub lures them away."

"Good idea, Hotch." JJ added, then looked to Morgan, "Why don't you go ask, Janette if we can have the hard drives. She'd be more likely to grant it to you than us."

Morgan grinned, "Sure, I'll be right back." Morgan entered Janette's reception area, and she looked up at him with a smile. He returned it, "We need to have our technical analyst take a look at some of the hard drives…" He trailed off as Janette shook her head.

"Sorry, no can do. Boss's orders, and all that. You're allowed anything that can be printed out, but as far as actually looking and touching any systems here, can't allow it." she looked sad having to deny him anything.

Morgan decided it would be best not to mention he'd already looked at one computer. "are you sure we can't work something out?"

"Unless you have a warrant, I can't help you. Sorry."

Morgan nodded in defeat. "Okay, well, we'll be back." He turned and left the room, back to JJ and Hotch. "No such luck. Says we need a warrant."

Hotch sighed and dialled the local station. "Agent Hotchner here. I need a warrant for KBG Supplies. I need to take some computer hard drives back to our analyst in Quantico." He continued to relay the information, and waited for a confirmation, before hanging up. "Should have it in a couple hours, but for now we need to head back." He sounded urgent.

"Why? What's up?" Morgan asked.

"Don't know. Just got informed something happened. Let's get back."

* * *

Prentiss had taken Reid to the nearest washroom, and was now waiting outside the door, leaning on a wall. It seemed like years had passed before she heard Reid's voice from beyond the door.

"Emily… Could… Could you go get me my bag please." His voice was soft and low, muffled through the door.

"Your whole bag?" she questioned. "Why don't I just get you whatever you need from it?"

"No… Just get me the bag. Please."

"Okay, fine, I'll be right back." Prentiss went back to their workroom, and snatched his bag up off the floor by his chair. With a sigh she turned and headed back to the wash room. "Got it, Reid." She heard the click of the door being unlocked, and the door opened slightly. She handed the bag over to the shaking, clammy, hand that reached for it. Then the door closed and locked again.

It was approximately 15 minutes before she heard anything from him again. He opened the door and looked surprisingly better than when he'd gone in. His hair was still wet and sticking to his face in places, but he was no longer sweating or shaky. He gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you… Really, thank you, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You should rest for a while, though." Reid nodded in agreement, and Prentiss waved over the nearest officer. "Do you have someplace Agent Reid could lay down for a while?"

The officer nodded, "Yeah, noticed you didn't look to hot there, mate. Agent Hotchner called about 5 minutes ago, and I let him know. I hope that's okay. Anyway they're on their way back." He paused to collect his thoughts, "Right, place to rest… Hmmm… Well, there's a secondary staff room that no one uses. There's a couch, and you can draw the blinds on the windows… I'll take you." He spun on his heel and started down the hall.

Reid gave Prentiss another grateful look before following the officer, and Prentiss returned to their workroom to gather her thoughts.


	13. Confrontation

A/N: Probably a lot of OOC-ness in this chapter from many of the characters, but I no longer care. /grin/

Disclaimer: Wonderfully brilliant thing CM is, but it isn't mine.

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Chapter 13: Confrontation

Morgan, JJ and Hotch opened the door to their workroom. Prentiss, who had been resting her elbows on the table, and holding her head in her hands, looked up to greet them. "Hey." she said weakly.

Hotch looked at her, "Where's Reid?"

"Resting." she sighed. "He's in another room, resting or napping, or something."

They all entered the room, closing the door behind them, and then took a seat across from Prentiss. "Resting?" Morgan asked. "He slept all morning!"

"Maybe he didn't. Maybe he didn't end up falling asleep until a few hours before he was supposed to get up." Prentiss countered, though she wasn't sure why she was protecting Reid.

Morgan nodded, "Ok, valid point, but what happened here?" He was studying the mark on her face.

"Nothing. Well, I mean, he wasn't looking very good, sweating, heavy breathing, then he said he was going to be sick." She sighed, "He really didn't look good. Took him to the washroom, waited, he asked for his bag, I brought it to him, waited some more, then I asked an officer to take him somewhere where he could rest. That's it. I'm no doctor, but it looked like he had the flu. Actually, it was more like a panic attack."

"Then why would he need his bag?" JJ asked, the gears in her mind turning.

"How should I know? I _really_ didn't want to pry, just brought him the bag. Maybe he's taking medication we don't know about. It would be perfectly understandable after what he went though. Anti-anxiety meds, or something of the sort."

Hotch shook his head, "He would have an obligation to tell me if that were the case. And I think he'd definitely have told Gideon. I would like to think we'd know."

Prentiss nodded, "I'd like to think we'd know too, but I think we all have things we'd rather keep to ourselves."

Everyone silently agreed, and it was a few moments before anyone spoke again. It was Morgan who broke the silence. "So what happened before that. That mark didn't just appear on its own." He pointed out the mark above her jaw.

"I pried." Prentiss stated simply, and was met with confused looks. "I pried, we argued, and… he hit me."

Everyone was visibly shocked. "He hit you?" Morgan asked. "No… No way… Our genius doesn't do that."

"Well he did. Needless to say, after that I decided not to pry. It was right after that he had the episode. Panic attack or whatever you want to call it. I think he was more shocked than I was."

None of them could believe their gentle, innocent, Reid could do something like that. Sure he could shoot someone on the job, if he had to, but physically assaulting a friend and co-worker was a completely different story.

They didn't have long to ponder this before the door opened again. Reid stood there, smiling and happy, and once again they were all vividly reminded of the old Reid. The one who was innocent, naïve, had never been hurt. The one they'd all grown to love from the beginning. Prentiss was perhaps the only one who'd never had that view of him.

Reid gave them a nervous little wave. "Uh, hey guys. Couldn't sleep, knew you'd be back by now, thought I'd join you." He stepped into the room and closed the door, then looked to Prentiss. "So, uh, are you okay?"

Prentiss nodded, "I'm fine Reid, thank you."

Reid smiled, lips together, and nodded before taking a seat at the table, not particularly close to either group. "So, how's the case going? What did you guys find out?" He addressed Hotch, Morgan and JJ.

The group of three on one side of the table were all a little hesitant to talk about anything other than Reid and his behaviour, and it took a moment for them to reply. It was Hotch who started, "We're currently waiting for a warrant, then hopefully we'll have more by the end of the day."

Reid nodded, and sighed, "Good. So what should we do till then?"

"Well, we still need to check into Chad Reynolds' complaints against KBG. For now I'd say that would be a good place to start. Check if any of them are valid." He glanced at Prentiss and she nodded and stood from the table.

"Sure thing, Hotch. I'll go get Douglass to bring them up." She left the room, wondering if perhaps she shouldn't have left Reid in there without some support. She had no idea how the others were going to act around him.

Reid smiled weakly at the group in front of him, he was sure Prentiss had told them what happened, she wouldn't keep something like that to herself. The silence was nerve-wracking, but at least he wasn't sweating anymore. Still, the clock on the wall ticked the seconds by agonizingly slow. Reid felt like every inch of him was being scrutinized in the gazes of his team mates.

JJ shook her head, then spoke, "What's wrong with you, Reid? Why do you keep hiding everything from us?"

Reid floundered for words, and shrank down into his chair.

Hotch shook his head and looked at JJ, "Now is not the time. We can discuss this all after the case."

JJ didn't listen, "No, I think we all need an answer now. What is going on Reid?"

"I-I-I-I-I…" He continued to flounder for words.

"No, JJ." Hotch interrupted Reid's dithering speech. "Unless it's going to affect the case, or the way Reid does his job, than it doesn't need to be discussed at this time." He looked over to Reid. "Will this affect your job?"

"N-no, sir, Hotch. It won't." Reid managed to push out his reply.

"Good, then we have nothing to worry about at this time."

Morgan had been rather speechless until now, "Hotch, you're just going to let him off the hook for this? No consequence, no anything?"

"That's not what I said, Morgan. I said we're not dealing with it at this time. After the case is through, Reid's going to tell us what's been going on." He eyed Reid sternly, and Reid swallowed hard. "And then I'll decide what to do from there. I will not, however, allow this to distract us from the case."

Morgan and JJ nodded, both feeling slightly defeated. JJ eyed Reid suspiciously, and he looked away from her. Now was not the time his issues were supposed to come out, and become public knowledge. Gideon was supposed to be here, to help him through it, and make it all go away so that no one would ever have to know. Reid sighed and trembled slightly knowing that Gideon wasn't here to help him, and wouldn't be for 6 more days. How was he supposed to get through this without help? If he didn't give up his drugs he'd loose his job. And he was trying, he really was, but it didn't seem to be working. In fact, over the last day, he'd gotten worse. Broken his own rules, to only take a dose once a day. He needed Gideon now, and he had absolutely no way of contacting him.

Prentiss walked back into the room and was met with an unearthly silence. "I've got the files." She tossed them down on the table, and instead of taking her previous seat in the middle of the table, she sat one closer to the end, next to Reid. He gave her a small smile and turned his attention to the files.

"Says here Chad was worried about potential gas leaks, and unsound structure. Mostly in the basement and supporting walls. He wanted the building to be torn down and rebuilt. Budget wouldn't cover it, so they dismissed his claims. He fought it for a while, and was ignored every time. Eventually he quit, didn't want to be part of it." Reid looked up at the group. "Do you think it's possible he's kidnapping people from the company to make a point? I mean, we already figure it's a personal vendetta, but what do the people have to do with the point he's trying to make?"

"The better question is, what's the point?" Hotch asked. "Does he believe kidnapping people will get the building torn down? Or at least put out of commission? In which case, victims chosen at random make sense. It's not about the victims, it's about the building itself."

"How is kidnapping people going to get a building demolished?" JJ asked.

"Well, we did say he was probably suffering from some for of psychosis. Perhaps in his mind it will." Prentiss answered.

Reid paused, "That's one part of the profile we haven't focused on. Does Chad have a psychosis?"

"I'll call Garcia. Maybe she can find out." Morgan replied. He took out his phone, and dialled Garcia. "Hey, baby girl…. Do me a favour…" He smiled, "check if Chad Reynolds has any documented mental illness… No?… Ok, thanks Garcia." He disconnected the call and shook his head. "None."

"So maybe Chad's not our guy." Hotch said what they all were thinking.

"Or maybe he does have a psychosis, and there's just no record of it." Morgan countered.

Reid shook his head, "No, I have a feeling this level of psychosis would be noticeable, at least by friends and family. We know he has a wife and kids. They'd notice."

There was a knock on the door, and Detective Douglass poked his head in. They all glowered at him. "Warrant's in. Thought you should know."


	14. Another One

Disclaimer: I don't own CM... I only wish I did.

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Chapter 14: Another One

Hotch nodded towards the detective and stood, everyone else followed suit, Reid grabbing his bag while he was at it. "Thank you Detective, we'll go deliver that now." Hotch moved to the door and opened it all the way. Detective Douglass stood back as everyone filed out, handing Hotch the warrant. He tried to give JJ an apologetic look, but she didn't even glance at him.

They left the building in a timely manner, and piled into their SUV. The seating arrangement was the same as on the drive out; somehow that arrangement seemed to mesh. The mood unfortunately matched the drive out as well; silence. Reid stared out the window trying to prepare himself for when he'd have to tell his team-mates, his _family_, that he was using drugs. He went through the words in his head, rehearsing what he'd say, and trying to judge reactions. Everyone else would steal glances at him, some were sad, some were confused, one was suspicious.

Less than ten minutes later they were outside KBG Supplies, and exiting the vehicle. They walked up to the doors, and inside. Shirley looked up at the group of them and made an almost squeaking sound, followed by a strong attempt to not fall out of her chair. They all glanced at her and then made their way to the elevator. It opened right away and they stepped inside, Hotch pressed the button for the 3rd floor. As soon as the doors closed each member of the team glanced at the others and cracked a smile. When the elevator slowed to a stop and binged, it was all seriousness again as the doors opened.

They strode down the isle, drawing attention from all the employees, and through the double doors at the back. Janette had her back to the door as she sat in her chair, facing her was Mr. Gordon. He had himself propped up on her desk, having it support a majority of his weight while he leaned forward with a bird's eye view of the woman in her chair. He glanced up at the disturbance at the door and frowned.

"Can I help you with anything?" He asked, frown still in place.

Hotch stepped forward, pulling the warrant from his inside jacket pocket. "Mr. Gordon? I'm Agent Hotchner; I believe you've already met Agents Reid and Prentiss." He motioned to them on his left side, "These are Agents Morgan and Jareau, and this," he handed the warrant over, "is a warrant for any computer hard drives we deem vital to the case."

Mr. Gordon's frown didn't lessen, "I've cooperated with your agents to this point, but do you realise how vital the computers are to this company? How much they'll cost to be replaced, if you damage them? We couldn't afford it; we're still a fairly new business."

"I assure you, Mr. Gordon, that we'll do everything we can to get them back to you, but you're in no position to argue with us." He turned to Janette, and handed her a list of their seven reported missing persons and 2 more still unaccounted for, "Give us a list of which computers these people used please." Janette nodded, and went about bringing up the data. Hotch sighed, nine people in 2 days was a lot, and there was a good chance there'd be more by the end of the day today. Their unsub had somehow snatched 5 people, plus 3 more presumed missing on that day. Then the 2 reports they'd received that morning, would have been a total of 10 had one name not matched one of the previously unaccounted for.

Hotch looked at the team, "Eight in one day, and only one the next? That's a rapid decline, why didn't we pick up on this before?"

The team shrugged, "We weren't focused on the numbers, so much as the people themselves and finding our unsub." Prentiss offered her answer.

Hotch was not a fan of that answer, but didn't argue it as Janette handed him back his list along with where the computers they needed were located. He nodded once, a silent 'thank you' to Janette, and gave the new list to Morgan. If they had unconsciously missed a detail like that, what else had they not clued into? And what else would they miss in the coming hours, or days?

Morgan huddled with the team as they looked at the list, and then assigned who would go to what section, on which floor. It didn't take long before they had what they needed, if not even more then that. Mr. Gordon was still being rather uncooperative, and refused to lend them their resident computer tech to take the hard drives out of the computers. So now they had nine whole computer towers to carry out to the SUV, leaving dead monitors on desks. Once everything was packed away in the SUV, the team met Mr. Gordon in the lobby. Hotch was trying to reassure him that they would do the best they can to get anything back to them in one piece, after the investigation was completed.

The elevator binged open and there was yelling. "Wait!! Wait!" a young woman was yelling and running towards them. She threw herself onto Morgan, the closest person to her, and was sobbing. Her black eye makeup was running in streaks down her face. Her ears were pierced in multiple places, along with her eyebrow, nose, lip, and possibly her tongue. She had pink streaks in her black hair. Morgan tried to hold her away from himself to look at her.

"What's wrong, miss?" He asked while the rest of the team watched.

"She's gone! She's just gone!" The young woman wailed.

"Who's gone? You have to calm down and talk to us. What happened?" Morgan's voice was soothing.

"J-Jessica… She… didn't come back."

"Who's Jessica?" Morgan continued to sooth the woman, a strong hand rubbing circles on her back.

"Jessica Goring. You… You talked to her yesterday, when she was at home sick, about her boyfriend missing. And, and, and… Now she's gone too!"

Morgan's eyes widened, making the connection now. He should have known that this woman and Jessica were friends; they had the same look, probably the same style of dress when not in work clothes. Morgan looked to Hotch concerned, as he comforted the woman. That was at least one more today.

Hotch looked at the woman, "Would you mind talking to us down at the station, Miss…?"

Through sobs she answered, "Deltoya… Patricia Deltoya. And no… I don't mind. Anything to try and find Jessica."

Prentiss had pulled aside Mr. Gordon. "These security cameras," she motioned to the few visible ones, "can we get the tapes?"

"No, I'm sorry, you can't."

Prentiss sighed, "Do we have to get another warrant?"

"No that's not it… the camera's… they're fake. There is no footage from them."

Prentiss sighed again, no video evidence to get a picture of their kidnapper. This case had just gotten harder.


	15. More Roadblocks

A/N: Slightly uneventful chapter, as will the next couple… Then it'll be Sunday in the story and that's when the fun begins! Yay! Hopefully you still enjoy…

Disclaimer and Dedication: I do not own CM, or make a profit off this... Consider this a tribute to the great writers of CM that are currently on strike with the rest of the WGA. My sympathies go out to you, so I write because you can't. Best of luck!

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Chapter 15: More Roadblocks

Hotch turned to where Prentiss was talking with Mr. Gordon, "You mean to tell us we have absolutely no way of even getting a visual on our kidnapper?"

Mr. Gordon shook his head, "I'm sorry, sir. Cameras are just there to scare people into not trying anything to begin with. Never had enough after construction, and supplying, to put in a fully functional security system. We had to prioritize."

Hotch wanted, very badly, to swear, but held his tongue. He turned back to Patricia, "How long ago did this happen?"

She choked back a sob as Morgan continued to sooth her, rubbing her back. "I only just got back from my lunch break, but I dunno, an hour… maybe more? I can't think right now."

"And you're sure she's not just late getting back from her lunch break?" JJ asked, standing off to one side with Reid.

"P-p-positive. Her lunch break starts a half hour before mine. They're staggered."

Each team member sighed, knowing what that meant. Their unsub had about an hour's lead on them, depending on the time of the abduction, and could be anywhere by now. It would be pointless to lockdown the building.

Hotch hated to admit there was nothing they could do at the moment, but it was the truth. They needed to get the hard drives mailed off to Garcia, and then maybe they'd have something to go on. He looked at Morgan, "Let's bring her down to the station, we can talk more there. I want to get the hard drives to Garcia as soon as possible."

Morgan nodded and led Patricia outside. Everyone else looked to Hotch, who shook his head and sighed. They'd missed their man by mere moments it seemed. Although, even being so close, they still didn't know who exactly they were looking for. JJ, Reid, and Prentiss followed Morgan outside, and Hotch was about to join them before he paused and turned back to Mr. Gordon.

"You mentioned Chad Reynolds to the Agents yesterday. He worked here, he'd know the building, is there any way he could have gotten in and out without being noticed?"

"I doubt it. People would recognise him in an instant. This is a small town after all. And the only usable entrances are here, on this floor. This main one," he pointed to the doors beside them, "and the ones at the back." He pointed down the hall, passed the elevator, to the back of the building, and to the other set of doors.

Hotch nodded with a frown, "Alright, thank you. We'll be in touch."

* * *

At the station Patricia received a nice mug of hot chocolate, and a blanket to keep herself warm. Interrogation rooms were not known for their warmth, but unfortunately they were the only open rooms. Morgan stayed with her the whole time, calming her and questioning her. He was trying to get all the facts straight. "Okay, I don't want to keep making you relive it, but you need to tell me again, every detail of what you know."

Patricia sighed and nodded, "Jesse told me that she was leaving for lunch, I think it was 11:35. She left and got on the elevator."

"Did anyone else get on with her? Other people should have been leaving for lunch at the same time, no?"

Patricia shook her head, "No, Jesse's always the last one to leave and the last to come back, which is why I didn't think anything was wrong when I left on my lunch break, and she wasn't back yet. She still had at least 5 minutes, and knowing her she'd push it longer. I went for lunch and came back but she still wasn't there, and I knew! I just knew something was wrong. That something had happened to her. Especially with her boyfriend already missing. So I ran to find you guys as quickly as possible. I'd seen you guys in here when I got back."

Morgan nodded, sure that this fifth time through he'd gotten everything. Patricia was certainly scattered, but she didn't appear to be into the drugs or alcohol like Jessica. "Alright, I'm going to check with Agent Hotchner, and see if we can get someone to take you home. You should stay home from work tomorrow too." Patricia nodded and Morgan led her from the room.

* * *

Hotch had gotten someone to package up the hard drives, carefully, and prepare them for mailing. They hit another glitch, realising that UPS would be unable to deliver the packages until Monday, unless they opted for same day delivery. Hotch frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to decide how they were going to do this. Detective Douglass noticed his distress and offered a suggestion.

"Look, Agent Hotchner, we've got an almost daily delivery guy who picks up anything we need and delivers it by his own hand. Weekends are his days off, but I can give him a call and see if he'll run the packages for you." He looked at the three boxes the towers were packed in. "Yeah he should be able to handle that. I'll call him and get him down here as soon as he's able."

Hotch nodded a thanks. As much as he disliked the detective for the moves he'd tried to pull on JJ, the man was decent when he was sober. Only decent though, definitely not outstanding. Hotch waited for Douglass to hang up the phone before giving him a questioning look.

"He says he'll do it, but he won't be able to do pick up for another," he looked at his watch, "four hours." The look on Hotch's face said it all and Detective Douglass held up his hands in defence, "I know, I know, I explained this was urgent, but then he explained he has his son's sport's practice at 2, and his daughters dance lessons at 3:45. His wife will be home at five, so he'll leave the kids with her and be on his way. I'm sorry, there's nothing more I can do."

Hotch nodded with a sigh, "Thank you." He thought about his own son, Jack, and how, if his work wasn't so demanding, he would love to be the dad that could take his son to any extracurricular activities. One that could be depended on to always be there. At the moment, he wasn't.

Hotch noticed Morgan step out from an interrogation room with Patricia, out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face them as Morgan approached.

"Can Miss Deltoya go home now?"

Hotch considered for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, sure. So long as you have everything you think we need."

Morgan took the blanket back from Patricia, and she finished her mug of hot chocolate, handing it to Morgan as well. "Thank you." she said to Morgan and sighed, "Thank you, I know you'll do everything you can to find her. I just hope to the Gods you'll find her soon."

"We do too." Morgan assured her, "We do too."

* * *

The team sat in their workroom eating lunch, and making small talk until Morgan and Hotch joined them. They still ate, though now they were discussing bits of the case. Morgan gave them everything he'd gotten from Patricia, and they tried to decipher how their unsub could be taking people, presumably against their will, off the property without being seen. From what they knew so far it was impossible. There was still a large chunk they were missing. Where were the people being taken, and held? Not only did they have to find the unsub, but they needed to find all the missing people first. Which meant they needed to make sure the unsub stayed alive when they caught him.

It was starting to seem like every time they found a piece of this puzzle another piece would go missing. They didn't seem to be falling behind, but they certainly weren't gaining any ground. They needed the hard drives checked, and something solid to give them Chad Reynolds on a silver platter. Oh, if only it were so simple.

Tonight they would re-evaluate their profile and update it. Garcia would have the hard drives by morning, and hopefully it wouldn't take her long to find them something. They were desperate for a better lead and didn't seem to have anything else to do but work on the profile. It was going to be a boring night.


	16. The Snoop

A/N: Skippity, skip, skip. Moving right along…

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. I just wish I did.  
Dedicated to the fantastic writers. It's because of your brilliant work that I write fan fiction. I hope things work out in your favor.

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Chapter 16: The Snoop

They talked, and discussed, and tossed out theories and suggestions with the hope that every hour that went by would bring them closer to their goal. Hotch made sure the 3 boxes of computers got into capable hands, and then the team finally took a break to go for supper.

Morgan wanted something exotic, like Vietnamese, but, taking into account Reid's past history with chopsticks and Reid's recent occasional mood swings, he decided it would be best to opt for something else. It took a while before they decided on small scale, sit-down restaurant, with a menu selection that everyone would enjoy.

They sat at a large round table continuing to discuss the case in hushed voices. Reid smiled, thinking that the whispering would draw more attention to them than if they just talked normally. He neglected to say anything however and just carried on with the conversation.

Their meals arrived, and still they talked. Reid took a spoonful of his mild chili and tasted it. It was good, but something was missing. He looked around the table and spied the parmesan cheese. He reached across his bowl for it and Morgan suddenly grabbed his wrist. Reid whipped his head to his right to look at Morgan, half scared half confused.

Morgan had a hard time not chuckling. "Relax Genius; you were just about to dip your sleeve in your food. That's all." He still held Reid's wrist, considering something. "You know, no offence but, you're a hand-talker, you're likely to do this again." He popped the button on Reid's cuff, "You should roll up your sleeves."

Reid snatched his arm back as Morgan tried to push up his sleeve. "T-thanks, but I'm okay." He redid the button and smiled early at the pairs of eyes that were looking at him. "I'll just be careful."

JJ stared at Reid, then down at his arm, and then back up. Everything was making sense, and she wished so much that it didn't connect, but it did. She didn't want her suspicions to be correct, but she couldn't just turn a blind-eye to it either. She may not be allowed to do any confronting while on the case, but she could still do her own investigating.

* * *

Reid stood in the washroom of his motel room, bare-chested, with his shirt in his hands. He scrubbed furiously at the stain on his sleeve and then muttered obscenities under his breath when it refused to come out. There was a knock on his door and he sighed, letting the shirt drop to the ground. "Just a second!" He called out, and then grabbed another shirt from his overnight bag. He pushed his arms through the sleeves, but left it unbuttoned.

He opened the door to greet JJ who was smiling, if not a little nervously. "Hey, Spence. Can I come in?"

Reid opened the door farther, "Yeah, of course." He closed the door behind her and then sat down on the bed, with his messenger bag by his feet. "What do you need?"

JJ was pacing the room and then stopped to look at Reid. "Well firstly Hotch says to turn your phone on. He tried to call you to let you know that as soon as we hear anything from Garcia in the morning we'll be heading out. So be prepared for a call."

"Okay, thanks, but that's not everything you came to say. What else?"

"I…" She sighed, "I wanted to apologise for earlier. I got upset, and with the way you've been acting… You just have me worried."

"Don't be, JJ. I'm fine." he swallowed hard, "I promise." He rubbed at his right eye for a moment, squinted, and then blinked.

"If you say so…" she had a hard time believing him, but was sidetracked by his sudden distraction. "What wrong with your eye?"

"I think I just have something on my contact. It stings and hurts whatever the case." He looked at her after rubbing his eye again.

"Well don't just sit there!" JJ tried not to shake her head and laugh, "Go take them out, and put your glasses on. I don't want you tearing your eye out."

"Yeah, good idea." He stood and JJ smiled.

"Just go, I'll let myself out."

He nodded, took his glasses and his contacts case from his overnight bag, and went back to the bathroom, closing the door behind him, but not clicking it completely shut.

JJ stood for a moment, thinking that she'd just given herself an excuse to not completely apologise and say what she was feeling, how worried she was. Instead she let him go, forced him to go even, so that she wouldn't have to form the words. She took two steps to the door and paused turning back. She glanced as the almost closed bathroom door, and then down to Reid's messenger bag on the floor. It was just sitting there, begging her to look. She glanced at the bathroom door again and then knelt in front of the bag.

She opened the flap and bit her lower lip. She didn't want to look, but she had to know what Reid had needed from his bag so badly after his supposed panic attack. There was no way she'd get away with just asking him, Hotch would be extremely cross she brought it up again, but she could see for herself. She was afraid to look though, as she reached inside the bag, and opted for using her sense of touch in place of her sight. Books, papers, pens and pencils; nothing out of the ordinary in the main pouch. She felt for the secondary inside pouch and reached inside. The items that assaulted her fingertips were unfamiliar. Long things in separate packages, and something else, something cold to the touch. She wrapped her hand around it to get the shape, still afraid to look. Small, light, she knew exactly what image jumped to her mind, but it was one she still did not want to admit. She had to know for sure though and she hesitantly started to pull her hand from the bag.

"What the HELL are you doing!?" Reid yelled from the bathroom door. She dropped the item, still in the bag, and drew away from it quickly. Reid's face was a mixture of anger and hurt and confusion.

"Spence I--"

"Don't! Don't say a word." He looked livid, "You come in here pretending to apologise just so you can snoop through my life. Get out, now!"

"Reid…" she searched his face for some clue that he wasn't as angry as he seemed, and found none. "I am sorry, I just--"

"No! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. Get out!" He stalked towards her and she moved back towards the door.

JJ opened the door, still looking at Reid. He seemed to be calming down since she was now doing as he demanded. "I _am_ sorry." she whispered. He didn't argue with her, which was good, but he was still unpleased. Even JJ was upset with herself, as she left the room. She couldn't believe she didn't trust Reid enough to just wait until the end of the case. She had to go prying into his life, and now she'd just made the tension worse. Her curiosity and momentary lapses in judgement were going to destroy their friendship. Now she felt as if she had just taken it one step too far.

Reid paced the room, quietly afraid of what JJ might have found out. There was a simple solution; check the bag. It took a few more paces back and forth before he knelt in front of it and reached in. Still there, still where it was supposed to be. Maybe she hadn't gotten that far yet? There was a chance she didn't find it. He was certain she hadn't seen it, but he knew JJ was smart enough to figure it out if she'd felt it.

He continued to pace for a few more minutes before he settled on just going to bed and dealing with whatever came up one step at a time. He took off his shirt and glanced at his arm with a forlorn sigh. It took him less than a minute to ready himself for sleep, and then he crawled into bed and clicked off the light on the bedside table, plunging himself into semi-darkness.

* * *

A/N: As you may have noticed, both my last chapter and this one have had a dedication to the writers of not only Criminal Minds, but every other current show too. All of my chapters will have a dedication until the strike ends. If I finish this story before that happens, anything else I write in the future will also have it. Let's hope for a swift conclusion in favour of the writers. If you haven't heard about the strike before now, or don't know much about it, the blog at CriminalMindsFanatic is something worth checking out.  
Cheers!


	17. A Break In The Case

Disclaimer: I do not own CM, I do not make a profit.  
Dedicated to the brilliant writers of the WGA, without you us fanfic writers would have nothing to work with. Best of luck!

* * *

Chapter 17: A Break In The Case

As usual, when not in a drug induced sleep, Reid woke up periodically throughout the night. He found himself pacing the room at three AM. He was forgetting something, and it was going to bother him until he remembered. It was 3:19 when it finally clicked. His phone. He'd forgotten to turn on his phone. He picked it up off the bedside table and flipped it open, holding down the power button until it lit up.

Five missed calls, one message. He scrolled through the list: Aaron Hotchner, JJ, Aaron Hotchner, Aaron Hotchner, Speed Dial 7. One message from Speed Dial 7. He rang his voicemail service, entered his password and waited. The same gravely voice he'd learned to despise himself over, assaulted his ears. It made his eyes want to water too, but he held back as he listened to the message.

_'Same time and date we discussed, in the alley down Amherst Street, across from the elementary school. I trust you'll find it, and be on time. He'll only wait 15 minutes, that's all. Don't be late; it'll make me look bad. He said he'll discuss payment when he sees you.'_ The man on the message chuckled then coughed. _'He always was a strange one.'_The message clicked off shortly afterwards and Reid was left silently pondering how he was going to manage this. Who knew where he'd be at 4pm. He knew the relative location, after all the school was located on the same block at KBG Supplies. He tried to visualise the map he'd seen in the police station. It came to him slowly, but it came none the less. The back of KBG faced the playground, and across from that should be the alley. He brought up the memory of Mr. Gordon's office, and looking out the wall of windows. Yes, he could see it in the distance.

Suddenly, he realised he was shivering. Walking around in minimum clothing in the middle of the night could do that to a person. He put the phone back on the table and crawled under the covers again, where he continued to have a very restless sleep.

Reid was staring at the ceiling as his phone started to ring. He looked at the time on the clock as he picked the phone up off the table, 8:40. Though he was wide awake he still answered groggily. "Mmmph, Reid."

_'Reid, its Hotch. Garcia just called; she just started looking at the hard drives, and should have something solid in an hour maybe less. Also, Morgan thought of something this morning, we'll tell everyone as a group. By the car in fifteen minutes, please.'_

"Sure Hotch. I'll be ready."

_'Thank you.'_

Reid disconnected the call and got up. He was unsure if Hotch's blunt, straight-to the-point, attitude was due to the urgency of what Morgan had thought of, or because JJ had told him what she may have found. He hoped it was the former as he began to ready himself for the day.

It was 8:50 when he was finally ready, and he looked at the clock again. Only 5 minutes to spare, that wouldn't be enough time. His eyes settled on his messenger bag, and he sighed, definitely not enough time. He didn't want to take his drugs with him, in case JJ brought it up again, but he couldn't leave them here. His hand was already starting to twitch since he hadn't had a dose, even a half dose, since the previous day. It had been almost 22 hours since his last hit, a dose that was only supposed to last 12 hours. He had no choice but to take his last half dose with him and hope and pray JJ didn't mention anything that would get his bag searched. He checked himself over in the mirror and noticed his face seemed slimmer than usual, that couldn't be a good thing. He knew he'd been loosing weight, but it only occurred to him now that it was actually noticeable. Although, maybe he was just imagining it.

Reid stood by the SUV as Hotch hit the remote power locks from his motel room door, where everyone was gathered, except Reid. Reid opened the passenger side door and sat inside, placing his bag by his feet. This forced Morgan into the back with the ladies. Everyone piled into the car and Hotch explained the plan as they started to drive.

"Morgan mentioned something to me this morning. I think it's definitely worth looking into." He waited to know he had their attention, "It's possible our missing persons never left the building at all."

"Where would they be?" Prentiss asked.

"Mostly likely the basement." Morgan answered her. "Can you remember if the elevator has a button for the basement? That would be the perfect place for the unsub to abduct the people."

Reid thought for a moment, "I don't remember a button." He pictured the panel, "No, there's no button for the basement, just 3rd floor, 2nd floor, Main floor, and your typical open door, close door buttons."

Morgan frowned as his theory became less plausible. "There could be other ways though, stairs or something."

JJ nodded, "Yeah it's possible. So what are we doing?"

"Going to drop in on Mr. Gordon again, see if we can get a better idea of where the unsub could have taken the victims. If there is any way to get into the basement he should know and we'll make sure he tells us." Hotch said with certainty.

* * *

They marched down the isle on the third floor with authority and through the double doors at the back. Janette looked up at them and for once almost looked afraid. "Can I help you?" she asked tentatively.

"Mr. Gordon in his office?" Hotch asked.

Janette nodded, "Yes."

"Good, we'll just be a moment." Morgan said smiling at her before motioning for Prentiss and Reid to lead the way through the next set of doors and down the hall.

Reid didn't exactly want people following him, watching him. He'd noticed JJ was trying not to stare at him, having her behind him would only make it easier for her to stare without him noticing. So far it seemed she hadn't said a word, he would have been pulled aside by Hotch if she had. However, he had no idea how much longer that would last. To add to that stress, he really needed to find a private place to lock himself up for a while, the shakes in his hand were getting worse, it wouldn't be long before he started experiencing the same withdrawal symptoms he had yesterday. In fact, he was rather surprised he hadn't started to undergo those feelings already.

They stopped in front of the door to Mr. Gordon's office and waited a beat before turning the handle and waltzing inside. Mr. Gordon looked up from behind his desk surprised, "Oh… Agents… I wasn't expecting you. How can I help?"

"Is there a basement in this building?" Hotch asked.

"Umm, yes, but there's no access to it; it's not exactly safe down there. The only people with admittance are a few of the construction workers and maintenance."

"Chad Reynolds was with construction, wasn't he?" Prentiss asked.

"Y-yes, he was." Mr. Gordon thought for a moment before his face lit up. "He never did return his key when he quit, claimed it was stolen."

"We're going to need access to the basement." Morgan added.

"Sure, of course, but I don't want to let you down there. It's a maze of passageways, there's no way it can be navigated without a map."

"Can you get us a floor plan or blueprints?" Reid asked. "Even just for me to look at for a few minutes?"

"I'm sorry I can't even do that. Chad Reynolds took them all with him when he left."

The team looked at each other with identical expressions. They knew what this was adding up to; it was finally the break they needed. Morgan addressed Mr. Gordon, "If I can get pictures of the floor plan on my phone, would it be alright if I e-mailed them to you so that you can print them out and we can start looking right away?"

"Yes, that would be fine."

Morgan and Hotch looked at each other and they both nodded. Hotch turned to JJ, Reid and Prentiss, "You three make sure the door to the basement is readily accessible, Morgan and I will pay a visit to Mr. Reynolds, get the pictures we need, and then arrest him and take him down to the station. Meanwhile, evacuate the building, keep everyone in one place, and do a thorough search of the main 3 floors. When the pictures come in you can start on the basement. We'll meet you back here as soon as Mr. Reynolds is booked."

The three of them nodded, though Reid was uncomfortable being left with JJ, at least Prentiss was still on his side. Prentiss was the only one who verbally answered, "Sounds like a plan." Finally this case was achieving some closure.


	18. Thrust Into Darkness

Disclaimer: CM is not mine, so depressing.  
Dedicated to the magnificent writers of the WGA. I love each and every last one of you. I will continue to write in your honor.

* * *

Chapter 18: Thrust Into Darkness

Mr. Gordon handed Hotch a piece of paper with his email address before Hotch turned to leave the room with Morgan. Prentiss looked at JJ and Reid while she pulled out her phone, "I'm going to call down to the station and get some officers over here to help with crowd control when we evacuate. We have to make sure everyone stays in the area, and stays accounted for." She walked over to a corner of the room for some privacy.

JJ looked at Reid and then to the floor, Reid mirrored the action, while JJ muttered, "I'll be right back." She turned on her heel and left the room as well. Reid stood glancing between JJ's retreating form, Prentiss off in a corner, and Mr. Gordon sitting confused at his desk. He continued this erratic eye movement until JJ was out of sight, then started to monitor the intensity of the shakes in his hands. Not too bad at the moment, maybe he could fight it off and not have to worry about it. No one on the team seemed to have noticed yet; this was good. Although it was possible they'd just chosen not to mention it. He hoped that wasn't the case.

* * *

Hotch and Morgan stood in front of the elevator doors waiting for them to open when Hotch heard his name being called. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw JJ jogging down the isle towards them. "Can this wait JJ?" He asked as the doors opened and he and Morgan stepped inside.

"No, not really." JJ answered, chewing her lower lip unsure if this was the right course of action.

Hotch pressed his finger to the 'open door' button and held it. "We don't really have time JJ."

"Please, Hotch. I'll be quick, I promise."

Hotch frowned, "You have until these doors close, JJ, no longer. I'm sorry." He took his finger off the button, knowing there would be a delay, however short, before they closed.

"It's Reid, I think he's--"

Hotch held up a hand to stop her. "JJ, again I'm sorry, but I said not until after the case. It'll have to wait." The doors started to close, and JJ looked defeated.

She sighed, staring at the closed doors. Perhaps it was for the best she didn't get to tell him. She'd been struggling with her conscience over it all morning. This was probably just fate's way of telling her now wasn't the time.

* * *

Inside the elevator Morgan furrowed his brow while looked at Hotch. "What if it really is something important? Something serious? You can't act like you haven't noticed Reid's been acting stranger that usual recently."

"I'm as aware as you are that something's going on, if not more so, but I stand by what I said. I won't have it interrupting the case. And we both know Reid loves his job, he'll do everything he can to make sure he doesn't mess it up or cause trouble. He'll be fine until we've arrested our unsub, and closed this case."

Morgan frowned, but couldn't help but agree. Reid would do what he could to make sure he didn't loose focus. All they could do now was wait. The elevator doors binged open and they stepped out unto the lobby.

* * *

Reid decided to make himself useful, and to distract his mind off his shakes, by talking to Mr. Gordon. He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned over the desk. "So, is there more than one access to the basement?"

Mr. Gordon nodded, "There's three."

Reid looked surprised, "Three? Where?"

"Outside, from an entrance on the side, the stairs, and the elevator."

"The elevator?" Reid's shock continued, "How?"

"Same as the others, with the maintenance key. Had to make sure it wasn't publicly accessible. Insert the key and turn it to the… right, I think, acts as an emergency stop, go left and it works the same way pressing a button would. Takes you to the basement. Only it overrides any other buttons that have been pushed, and takes you straight there."

"Thank you." You could practically see the gears and wheels turning in his head. He looked up, Prentiss was just getting off the phone and JJ had re-entered the room. He waved them over enthusiastically. "It is possible!" His tone had excitement etched into it, and it made JJ smile as she forgot her fears about him for a moment.

"What is, Spence?" she asked.

"Getting to the basement via the elevator! We weren't wrong there. It's possible!"

Mr. Gordon was raising an eyebrow at Reid's tone of voice; along with his cruel opinions about the mentally ill, he also believed no man should ever be that high-pitched and squeaky. He, however, chose to keep his mouth shut.

Both JJ and Prentiss smiled at each other and then at Reid, glad that he was happy and excited, rather than moody and biting their heads off.

* * *

It wasn't too long before a group of officers showed up in the KBG lobby. Prentiss met them and designated what she wished them to do. "It'll be mostly crowd control. We need to make sure every employee in this building stays in one area outside. No one is to leave the designated boundaries and no one is to re-enter the building until we give the o.k., understood?" They all nodded. "Good, set up a perimeter out the back set of doors, and we'll start slowly herding people outside."

The officers did as they were asked of and left the building through the back. Prentiss returned to the third floor and met Reid, JJ, Mr. Gordon, and Janette by the elevator. "They're getting set up as we speak; now we just have to work on getting everyone here outside without causing panic. I'd like it if you two," she addressed Mr. Gordon and Janette, "could take a roll call of some sort as people leave, so we know that everyone makes it out. Perhaps check them off a list of everyone who clocked in today?" Janette nodded and moved quickly down the hall to her computer to print off the list.

A few minutes later she was back, list in hand. She handed half the sheets to Mr. Gordon, along with a pen, and kept the others to herself. "Good, head downstairs and then we'll start sending people your way." She watched the elevator doors open as Janette pushed the button. The lights in the building flickered a couple times, and then went dead.

* * *

Morgan and Hotch were stopped outside Chad Reynolds' house. Morgan observed as Hotch finished on the phone. "Thanks, Garcia." He disconnected the call and looked at Morgan with a nod. "E-mail address all the tempting e-mails were sent from is 'C' Reynolds at KBG mail dot com. It's Chad."

"So, how is he accessing his e-mail if he doesn't work there?" Morgan asked, knowing Hotch had asked the same thing to Garcia.

"Garcia said it's a very simple system to crack, and can be accessed from any computer if someone had enough knowledge to try."

"So what's the plan then?" Morgan said opening his door and stepping from the car, as Hotch did the same.

"We go in calmly, act like we're not there for him. See if he'll willingly let us look at the floor plans, and then arrest him. Actually it'd be better to see if he'll come down to the station willingly as well." They walked up to the front door and knocked.

The door opened quickly and a tall, well toned, man with short reddish-blonde hair stood there. He licked his lips, "You're FBI right? What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Mr. Reynolds?" Morgan asked, the man nodded, "Everything's fine, is your family home right now, or is it just you?"

"Just me, now tell me what's going on, please."

"May we come in?" Hotch asked, ignoring his questions.

"Of course, sorry." He opened the door wider to let them in, and then led them to the living room. "Now, please stop avoiding my questions. Why are you here?"

"We understand you have some blueprints or floor plans for KBG, we need them, or at least to take pictures of them." Hotch answered the question in a oblique manner. He continued to explain as much as he could, without giving away the details of the case, to earn the trust of Chad Reynolds.

* * *

There had been a few minutes of panic before everyone was ushered, a little faster than would have been ideal, out of the building. The elevator was out of use, and both Mr. Gordon and Janette were glad they weren't already in it when the power went out.

The longest 3 seconds of their life had been those just prior to the back-up generator kicking in. Unfortunately it didn't supply power to all the lights of the building, just to emergency lights set up in strategic places around the perimeter of each floor.

Prentiss, Reid, and JJ now stood just inside the back doors of the building with Mr. Gordon, letting the natural sunlight illuminate their conversation.

"How could the power get cut like this?" JJ was asking.

"Power switch is in the basement. Unless the whole block is off too, then that's the only way power could be cut to this building."

The three agents frowned, could Chad Reynolds be here right now? No, Hotch and Morgan would be at his place by now, they'd have called if he wasn't there. There had to be some other explanation, they just didn't know what. "Is everyone accounted for?" Reid asked.

Mr. Gordon looked at him sideways and really wanted to shuffle just slightly away so he wasn't so close. "Yes, everyone's out there, except for us." He looked out the window-like doors at the crowd of people.

"Alright. I guess it's time we start searching with the top floors. Mr. Gordon, if you wouldn't mind waiting outside with everyone else…" Prentiss trailed off.

Mr. Gordon nodded, "I figured as much." He pushed the door open with his shoulder and stepped outside.

Reid, JJ, and Prentiss looked at each other and heaved a collective sigh. "Now comes the fun part." Reid said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.


	19. Playing With Fire

A/N: I might be slipping into a cliche in this chapter, but it's what happened in my dream so I'm writing it out.

Disclaimer: CM is not mine. I do not make a profit... and neither do the real writers it seems...  
Dedicated to the WGA. You deserve a fair cut from DVD sales and other media. I support you in your fight. Best of luck.

* * *

Chapter 19: Playing With Fire

Chad Reynolds looked at Morgan and Hotch and nodded numbly. "Yes, yes of course you can see the blueprints. I put them up in the attic, it's through my brother's room, I'm sure he won't mind." He led the two agents up the stairs and to the guest room. "Chester's a bit shy, never really talks with us, it's a shame really, he's a good kid. Well, I shouldn't say kid; he's only a year younger than I am." He turned the handle, pushed the door open, and his eyes widened at the sight before him. Morgan and Hotch's expressions matched.

"I think we found our unsub…" Morgan mumbled.

The walls of Chester Reynolds' room were lined with hand taken pictures of the missing persons. The blueprints to the basement were hung on one wall, and carved onto many of the pictures, or the walls themselves, were a set of words. 'Filth.' 'Scum.' 'Dirt.' 'Druggie.' 'Adulterer.' 'Whore.' 'Wife Beater.' Chester had a label for everyone. There was only one picture that wasn't marred in any way. Morgan walked over to it; it was framed and looked like it was well taken care of.

Morgan held it up, "Family photo?" he asked Chad.

Chad nodded, "Yes, Me, my wife, our kids, and Chester."

Morgan handed it over to Hotch, "It's him. How could we have been so blind?" His anger was boiling just under the surface. He pointed to the other man in the picture. It was the same man they'd met in the elevator the day before.

"You and your brother don't look very similar…" Hotch said, it wasn't exactly a question however.

Chad gulped down his shock and shook his head, "No… we never have. Same colour hair, but other than that we're different people entirely."

Morgan was continuing to examine things in the room, "This is bad Hotch… This is demented." He didn't bother to check his blunt tone, even in front of Chad. "He's almost like a 'House Cleaner' but he's only targeting those he works with. Each one of these people has a quality he deemed unworthy, but as far as we know he hasn't killed any of them yet. Why?" he looked to Hotch questioningly.

"He has something else planned. Something bigger." was Hotch's simple reply, as he pulled out his phone and dialled JJ.

* * *

Unless by a window with direct light, or one of the emergency back-up lights, the building was dark and silent. JJ had started her search on the second floor; it was mostly hallways and offices, simple concept and not very intimidating. Prentiss and Reid were on the top floor. Perhaps the simplest layout, due to the fact it was mostly cubicles. Reid was holding the a flashlight near the centre of the almost windowless room. The beam was unsteady and shaking in his hand. He focused hard on keeping it still, which seemed to only make the shakes worse.

"Reid?" Prentiss said his name from behind him.

He jumped and the flashlight clattered to the floor. He took a deep breath and then smiled awkwardly, though in the dim light it probably went unnoticed. "Sorry, Emily, you spooked me."

"Are you alright?" There she was, asking that horrid question again. She hadn't meant to, it had just slipped out.

Reid nodded and bent to pick up the flashlight, "Yeah, I'm fine." He handed the light to Prentiss, "I'm going to go see if JJ needs any help, if that's alright?"

"Yeah, sure, Reid. I'll meet you two back in the lobby."

Reid did his best to give her a smile, "Sounds good." He turned on his heel and headed for the stairs. He couldn't help but feel Prentiss' eyes attempting to drill into his soul and seek out all his demons. He didn't need that stress right now, he couldn't handle it.

He took the stairs quickly, rushing passed the second floor entirely, and stopping on the main floor. He stepped out into the empty lobby, and moved to where he could see the back doors, glancing out them. Mr. Gordon and Janette were no longer standing outside the door, but off to the side making small talk. There was an officer there, though, who seemed to have taken their place.

Reid stepped back to where he was no longer in sight of the doors and studied high up on the walls. He'd seen a sign here earlier, for a men's room. That was what he needed right now, to lock himself away for a few moments and make himself better. He couldn't let himself get distracted, he couldn't let something happen and have it be his fault. Focus, he needed to focus. He put a hand out against the wall to steady himself as his vision blurred. This wasn't good, this really wasn't good. He could feel his heart start to race and focused on taking deep breaths of air. He needed to find that washroom. To lock himself up, and sit on the floor under the glow of an emergency light. If that didn't paint a picture of a druggie in his mind, he wasn't sure what would.

He took his hand off the wall, spying the sign he needed, and hugged his messenger bag close. Just down the hall and he'd be ok, he'd make it. A look of deep confusion spread over his face when something hard pressed against his lower back. He only had a second to be confused before a trigger was pulled and volts of electricity were forced into his body. The first hit didn't bring him to his knees but he gasped in pain. He had an ironic thought in that moment, that if he had his drugs in his system he may not have felt much at all. His vision swam again, and he swayed. He felt the item touch him again on his side, below his ribs, and another set of volts rocked through him. This time they dropped him to his knees, slowly, deliberately, painfully.

Reid fell from his knees to his side, choking down his pain, and cocked his head at his assailant. It was too dark to see who it was, only that it was male. Reid fumbled at his belt for his gun and the man stepped forward into a dim beam of light made by one of the few emergency lights on this floor. He recognised him, but from where? Reid thought back to days previous before it clicked. The man he'd bumped into on the first visit here. Reid continued to try and grab for his gun and the man made a 'tsking' noise at him.

"I wouldn't do that." The man said with a look of pure glee on his face. "I've waited so patiently for you, and I knew… I knew that today would be the day. You're going to look wonderful in my collection. The best of the bunch. Too bad it won't last much longer." For a man of short stature he could move quickly Reid soon found out, as suddenly the man was straddling his waist. "Don't. Don't touch your gun; it would make me very unhappy." He pressed the Taser to Reid's chest. "Although, I do have an outlet for my unhappiness now." The man squeezed the trigger again, purely for fun, and squealed in delight. Reid didn't even have time to yell before he blacked out from a mixture of the electric shock and his withdrawals.

* * *

JJ's phone started to ring and she jumped at the suddenly break of the silence. She took a couple breaths to calm herself down while looking at the caller ID -- Hotch -- before answering. "Hotch, I'm glad you called. I should have called you earlier, power went out, you're not going to be able to send those pictures directly to us."

Hotch's voice was a welcome and calming distraction, or would have been had he not sounded so agitated. "JJ we've got a problem. The unsub isn't Chad, it's his bother Chester. He's there right now. I want you, Prentiss, and Reid to locate him; Morgan and I will be there as soon as we can."

"Oh my… Of course Hotch, we'll see you soon!" She hung up and jogged towards the stairs, down them, and out into the early afternoon air.

She scanned around for Prentiss and Reid but didn't see them. She turned to head back inside when Prentiss walked out. "Emily, Hotch just called." JJ filled Prentiss in on who the actual unsub was with a sigh.

Prentiss nodded as she took it in, and when JJ finished she asked, "So where's Reid? We need to locate the other Reynolds."

"W-what do you mean, where's Reid?" JJ asked, a look of horror starting to fill her eyes as she flashed back to the last time someone had asked her that. It had been Morgan first that time, and then Prentiss had repeated it. Her memories flooded her and she hated it emotion it brought back, so she did her best to fight it down. "He was with you earlier."

"Yeah, and he told me he was going to meet up with you."

JJ shook her head. "I never saw him." she said numbly.

Prentiss closed her eyes in a frustrated sigh. She wasn't upset with JJ in any way, but she definitely was with Reid. "Why does he do this? We're a team! We're supposed to tell each other the truth for starters. Not lie to our friends' faces!" She made a noise to match her frustration.

JJ nodded in dull agreement, her head still swimming with memories, as something in the upper windows of the building caught her attention.

* * *

He'd set it up perfectly, it had worked, and how he was going to watch it all come to a close. He'd brought the red canisters up to the top floor and poured their contents around. He was careful not to step in any. He had more where that came from, however, but he still had to work quickly. He was sure they'd be looking for him now, and he didn't want it to end until he was ready.

He repeated the action on the second floor. And then went back up to the third. It didn't take him long at all, and he was pleased with himself. Oh, so, very pleased. He'd grabbed a whole roll of paper towel from the janitor's closet, and ripped off a portion as tall as he was. He then proceeded to twist it, and twist it, and crunch it, until it was like a long squished tube. He placed one end in the liquid he'd poured and the other he set on the ground and lit with a match. Soon the top floor would be on fire. It was a shame he couldn't stay and watch but he still had more work to do. He made a large puddle on the third floor landing and watched it crawl its way towards the stairs. He had to move faster.

Again he repeated making this long structure out of paper towel, on the second floor. The pool he'd pour just up the stairs lit and he jumped back. Oh he was really running out of time now! No time to light this one, it would light on its own soon enough. He grabbed the last canister he had and trailed some down the stairs as he went. He emptied the last bit of it down the stairs to the basement and tossed the canister down with it. There would be no escape. In just over a minute, there would be no escape. He heard the 'woof' as the second story caught fire, and he giggled with excitement.

Quickly he left the stairwell; he didn't want to be caught inside it. He wanted to watch it burn from the outside. And to _know_ that he had succeeded in killing them all. He wouldn't _know_ if he were dead, and so, he couldn't die. He walked briskly towards the doors, outside which there were many bodies gathered. He watched the blonde and brunette FBI agents notice the smoke and flames in the upper stories of the building. Oh! But where was their druggie friend, hmmm? Where could he be that he wasn't here? Oh yes… That's right. He was about to kill the druggie, he was about to kill all of the other filth too. And the best part was, he could sit back and watch it happen without getting his hands contaminated. A grin spread over his face before he stepped out into the daylight to meet his fate.

* * *

A/N: Heh, kind of got a little carried away on this one. Had to force myself to quit. Could have finished it all had I wanted to... However I'll let you all linger on what exactly happened to Reid... /malicious laughter/


	20. Clearing The Mind

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds... I own Chester though, the little creep.  
Dedicated to the brilliant writers. Here's to a speedy conclusion to the strike. Cheers! -raises can of coke-

* * *

Chapter 20: Clearing The Mind

Mr. Gordon was on the phone calling a fire truck when JJ and Prentiss started to notice flames on the second floor as well. A motion by the door caught their eye as a man exited the building. "Excuse me," JJ asked, "what were you doing inside?"

The man grinned, "I needed my meds."

Prentiss looked at the cop still by the door, "You let him inside?"

The young cop nodded, "Well, like he said, he'd forgotten his meds; I didn't want him dying on us."

"So much for not letting anyone inside." Prentiss mumbled, with a glance to JJ. "So," she turned to the man, "what's your name? I want to make sure you didn't get missed on the sheet." she fibbed.

The man looked at her with a knowing smirk, "You should know who I am. You should all know!" he said to the gathered hoard of people, "I'm Chester! My name is Chester Reynolds," he looked back at JJ and Prentiss, "and I just killed one of your agents!" he hissed with delight, and started to giggle manically.

* * *

When Reid came to and opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything. It was dark for the most part, but he could tell he was lying on his stomach and the floor was crude and unfinished. He could hear whispers.

"I think he's waking up."

"Really got 'im good didn't he? Crazy bastard."

"Do you think he'll be ok?"

Reid groaned, "Ok… we can stop talking about me now. I can hear you." He rolled over onto his back and tried to get a look as his surroundings. There was a window high up in one corner, but was completely inaccessible. The window looked like it was at ground level which meant he was at least 18 feet underground. The basement, and an extra deep basement at that. He could see, closer to his feet, what looked like a door. So this was most likely a room they were locked in.

Reid pulled himself up to a sitting position, and then dragged himself over to a wall to lean against it. He checked himself over; he hurt like hell, but was in one piece, and his messenger bag was still hanging off him, surprisingly. He checked his belt and noted his gun was still there, too. So he hadn't been stripped of his belongings, this was good. Odd, but good.

He turned his attention to the other people in the room as his eyes adjusted to the dimness. He counted them, 10 in total, not including himself. He made number 11. One voice, female, whispered to him from across the room.

"You're FBI aren't you? He's been taunting us with the fact he was going to kidnap an FBI agent too, but I wouldn't believe it. I kept saying I'd met a couple of the agents, there's no way anything could happen to them. Guess I was wrong."

Reid looked across the room to the relative location of the voice. "And who are you?" he asked.

"Jessica Goring." she replied.

Reid nodded and noticed another form she was huddled up against, a male. That was probably her previously missing boyfriend. Not missing anymore, he now knew where they were. The question was, how long had be been out? And did anyone else know exactly where they were? He had a feeling the basement wasn't going to be a helpful relative location.

* * *

Morgan and Hotch arrived on scene and, upon seeing the flames, ran over to the doors. They caught the last words as the maniac man confessed to killing one of them. Neither of them wanted to believe the words, but they didn't see Reid anywhere around. Hotch looked at the nearest cop and barked an order, "Take him away. Get him out of my sight."

The cop abided by what was asked of him and cuffed Chester Reynolds.

"You'll never find them!" Chester said, tauntingly. "You'll get lost down there before you do. Not to mention, by the time the flames die down they'll all have burned to death." He struggled with the officer trying to take him away from the scene. "Noooo!" he hissed, "I can't leave yet. I have to watch it happen… I have to see my work completed!"

Hotch shook his head, "You think we're going to let you get the satisfaction you want? Especially after you supposedly just killed one of our agents? No, not happening." He looked up at the officer to signal him to keep taking Chester away.

Chester howled in rage. "I did kill him! I did! I know I did. He was filth! It's for the betterment of man!" The amount of rage that could build up inside such a short squat little man would have almost been amusing if it hadn't been deathly serious. "I hope you never find him, and that he decays into the dirt that he is!"

The fire department was arriving on scene, sirens blazing, and hurried to try and douse the flames that were now licking out some open windows. Morgan was ushering people farther away from the building due to the chance some of the windows could explode. The last thing he wanted was to have everyone showered in glass.

"How are we going to find him?" JJ asked Hotch, hoping Hotch hadn't noticed her slight slip in only being concerned about Reid. "Did you get the pictures? Even if you did, we can't go in there. Not with the building like this." She was rambling and didn't seem to notice.

Hotch took her by the shoulders and tried to remain calm in order to calm her as well. "We'll find him, JJ." So he had noticed. "We'll find him, and we'll find all the others too. However, no, I don't have the floor plans."

"I do." A voice from behind him. Hotch turned to see Chad Reynolds carrying a rolled up sheet of paper. Chad looked over his own shoulder at his brother still being dragged away, and shook his head, "I thought I knew him." His face grew solemn for a moment before he snapped back to himself. "You guys came to my house for these and then didn't take them. Thought it might be important."

JJ looked extremely grateful, and Hotch nodded a thank you. They set about looking at the design and working out a way to get to the basement.

* * *

Reid's head was pounding, and his vision was continuing to come and go in waves. His hands were shaking like mad, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Had those three Taser shots fried his brain? A part of him wanted to laugh and say 'yes', another part wanted to argue that he'd been doing that on his own anyway, and yet a third part could rationalize how that wasn't possible.

"So…" A voice from near him who he hadn't met yet, "what are you in for?" It sounded like bad prison talk.

"What do you mean?" Reid asked.

"I mean, we're all here for a reason. He told us each what it was, repeatedly actually. Called me a thief. Must have noticed when I nicked that guy's wallet last month."

There were murmurs of agreement from the gathered group, and another male voice spoke up. "Apparently," he sounded extremely pissed off, "_Lacy_ doesn't like it when I discipline her. That's my wife, by the way. Called me an abuser just before he Tasered me. If she told him that," he growled, "She's not going to be happy when I get out of here."

Another voice, female, "Oh shut up, Jason! It's not like its some big secret. She comes in here everyday to give you your lunch she made, and she's jumpy, flinches every time you move too fast. It's not hard to notice. God! Make your own damn lunch, you lazy bastard!"

"Whoa!" Reid raised his voice to interfere, "That's not going to help us get out of here." He paused listening; he could hear sirens in the distance. Not police, not ambulance… Must be fire. He left his bag on the ground in front of him as he slowly stood and walked, with shaking steps, to the door. He felt it with the back of his hand, it was cool, sniffed the air, there was something faint, like gasoline, and then he listened. It was barely audible, but he was sure he could hear it somewhere out there, a distinctive crackling. He moved back to his spot and slid down the wall. "The building's on fire." he said; the lack of emotion in his voice was almost eerie.

The panic rose around him and everyone started talking at once. Some asked him how he knew, which he ignored, and others talked amongst themselves. The volume rose as Reid closed his eyes tried to think. His brain wouldn't work with the rising pandemonium around him and he groaned in frustration. "Just shut up for a moment and let me think." he mumbled, but not many heard him. He looked at his bag near his feet and smirked.

He shifted his weight and moved to a crawling position, moving weakly forward on hands and knees to get to his bag, the smirk still on his lips. He grabbed the strap and dragged it back with him to the wall, where he started digging through it. "Everyone please." he begged, and more people took notice, "Just keep it down for a few minutes, I need to think. I'll get us all out of here I promise. I just… need a moment to think."

His hand found what it wanted and he relaxed a little, pulling a needle package, phial, and tourniquet out into the open. He had half a dose left and he wasn't going to waste it. He needed to clear his head, this would help. He was sure it would help. Some part of his logical mind was trying to argue that that logic didn't make a lick of sense, but he wasn't listening to it.

The man next to him made an almost laugh like noise in his throat, "Well, now I know why he chose you."

Reid cocked his head and frowned, "Why?"

The man pointed at the drug supplies in Reid's hand, "Druggie." he said simply, "There's a couple others in here too."

"No… No, I'm not. I just… get chronic back pain. Getting Tasered didn't exactly help." He lied just slightly. After all, it was true getting Tasered in the back did cause back pain.

"Right…" the guy said, "I've heard all the excuses, you don't have to lie."

"I'm not." Reid mumbled, but it didn't sound convincing. If this was truly the reason why the unsub had targeted him then it must have been obvious. And if it was so obvious, the whole team must have known for ages and just not said anything. He furrowed his brow in confusion. That didn't make sense and was only making his head hurt.

"Right," the guy said again, "well I'm just saying, we're all in this together so--"

"Shut up." Reid said firmly, "Just, shut up, I need to think." He had taken the needle from the package, inserted it into the phial, and was now drawing out every last drop he could. He spoke as if he was going to be inserting more brain cells into his system. Like the drug held his thoughts, and he just needed to get them into his head.

The man didn't say anything else as Reid readied his arm for the injection. He held the syringe between his teeth and rolled up his sleeve, before tying his arm off with the tourniquet. The sight of his track marks didn't even faze him this time. This was too important, too needed, to worry about marks on his skin. He had to save these people. He took the syringe from his mouth and placed the needle's tip against his skin. He realised for the first time he was doing this with witnesses but he no longer cared. He inserted the needle slowly into his skin and into a vein, and started to depress the plunger. A smile spread across his lips as he did so. He took the needle out when finished and threw it into an empty corner. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to put it, and no one would ever have to know.

He pulled the tourniquet off his arm and tossed it next to his bag before giving in to the blissful state of unconsciousness he so desperately craved. He lay down on his side on the dirty floor, and closed his eyes, a content smile teasing his lips.


	21. A Sobering Experience

A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter, but the right place to stop.

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds isn't mine.  
Dedicated to the writers. Here's to hoping the negotiations starting on the 26th bring about a strong resolution.

* * *

Chapter 21: A Sobering Experience

It hadn't taken too long for the team to determine that there was a side entrance which went straight to the basement. No one had been able to get inside, and the firefighters wouldn't even attempt it yet; so no one knew if the basement had been set on fire as well, or just the upper floors and what was visible from the door of the stairwell.

The firefighters were still working furiously on the top floor flames, with no near end in sight; in fact it only seemed to be getting worse. Hotch went to see if he could talk to the lead fireman, or someone who didn't have a hose in their hand. He approached one man, "Excuse me." He waited to have his attention, "Sir, we have reason to believe there are hostages inside the building." The firefighter cast him an apologetic look. "Sir, we need to get inside the building. There's an access right over there," Hotch pointed to the wall they were now across from. A set of rails, blocking anyone from falling into the pit of stairs from the side, were just barely visible behind a low set of shrubbery and the bodies of the firemen who were working.

The fireman shook his head, "Have you forgotten the basic rules about burning buildings? Never re-enter the building. I won't allow it."

"Please," Hotch didn't exactly want to make it seem like he was begging, but he also saw no other way. "One of my agents is in there, along with 10 others."

The fireman bowed his head, "I'm sorry for your loss." Hotch looked at him, a pained hurt moving across his face. The fireman elaborated, "There's no way anyone could have survived being in that." He pointed to the intense flames.

"No, I don't imagine anyone could, but they're not up there. They're in the basement, which, as far as we know, isn't on fire yet, but we may not have much more time." He was pleading and he knew it, but he didn't care.

"Is it easily accessible, or is it locked?" He was referring to the door.

"I'm not sure, probably locked." Hotch replied.

"If it can be simply opened, I'll send 2 men in to look."

"Thank you. They'll need to take a look at the map, though. Apparently it's quite the maze down there."

"Get that door unlocked, and then we'll talk."

Hotch nodded, turned, and started to walk away when there was a rumble, what sounded like a small explosion. The ground shook just for a second, and some windows near the ground shattered. He turned back to the fireman, "What was that?"

The fireman blinked a couple times and ignored the question. "Do you happen to know how this fire started?"

"Not exactly, I wasn't here. I just know its arson."

"What was the accelerant?"

"I don't know."

The fireman frowned, "I think I do... Gasoline." He studied the fire for a moment and then nodded grimly. "Putting water on this fire will only make it spread; we'll need to use other methods." He called out an order for the others to cease dousing the flames.

"Fine, but you've avoided my question. What was that?"

"An explosion, probably from the gas fumes…" he trailed off, unsure if he could continue, but Hotch looked at him expectantly. "I'm pretty sure it was in the basement."

Hotch's face blanched.

* * *

Over the course of the next thirty minutes Reid's eyes opened occasionally, but never long enough for him to be considered fully conscious. He noted once that there was water running down the high window. Why was there water? The whispers started again.

"This is our FBI?"

"Is this the man that's supposed to be saving us?"

"He's no better than any of us."

"Actually, I think he's worse."

"Just another damn junky."

Reid was slowly becoming aware that, due to his withdrawals, even a half dose was too much. His body had sucked it up like water. He could hear the whispers, but not what was being said. He was nearly ready to pass out again when the explosion happened. Suddenly he remembered the fire.

It shook them all to the core, and was strong enough to knock the door to their prison off its hinges and onto the floor. Flames licked into the room for about 10 seconds then quickly retreated, leaving only thick black smoke as a reminder. Reid pushed himself up off the floor, "Oh… crap." He sat slowly, rubbing at his temples, trying to stop his ears from ringing. The window to the room had shattered, but now all he could hear was the roar of the flames outside. The silence in the room was alarming, however, "Is… Is everyone okay?" he asked.

For a moment there was nothing, then one by one people started to answer. He did a quick count of everyone who replied. Nine… only nine replies. He tried to get a look around the room and finally noted that the door wasn't sitting flush with the floor. He crawled forwards and looked down at the man beneath the door. The door was pressed up against his chin, his eyes were quickly flitting back-and-forth, and there was a pool of blood forming under him. He looked to be in his late-20's.

Reid avoided the blood and tired to talk to the man. "I just want you to blink if you can understand me." The man blinked once. "Good, lie perfectly still, don't try to move. Do you know where you're bleeding from?" The man blinked again and Reid took it as a 'yes.'

The man's mouth moved as he tried to speak, it took him three tries; "N-neck" His voice was very breathy and soft.

Reid gulped, "Okay, is it a small cut?" He knew by the growing pool of blood it wasn't, but he asked anyway. No blink. "So you think it's bad?" A blink. "I'm going to help you okay? I'm going to do… something." Reid had no idea what, however.

The man licked his lips, "No… Just… Tell my mom… I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Reid asked.

The man almost smiled, "The drugs. Sh-sh-she always knew… Never said… Anything."

Reid nodded, "I'll make sure she knows."

This seemed to lift a great weight off the man and he breathed out a few shallow breaths, closing his eyes. "Th-thank you."

"Oh no…" Reid shook his head, "Don't you dare give up! Not on my watch." He watched the blood pool continue to spread. "Just keep trying, please."

The man opened his eyes again, "Just let me die." his eyes closed again.

"I can't do that." Reid's eyes were watering and he sniffed loudly as his voice cracked. "Please don't make me do that." His face contorted, fighting back tears.

There was no response and after a minute Reid reached over and tried to feel for a pulse on the man's wrist. Nothing, he was gone. Reid stood up, wiping at his eyes, and immediately regretted it. The black smoke was starting to settle, and he could hear a few people coughing. He joined them as he took in a lungful and dropped back to the ground.

"We need to find out own way out of here, and we need to do it now." Reid stated with fervour, he was not going to just stay here and have anyone else die.


	22. Calling The Healer

A/N: My JJ is turning into PanicButton's JJ... haha... all mopey and weepy. Hmmm bad influence on me she is... (Love you PB! Really I do!!)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.  
Dedicated to the writers. I love you! Thank you for giving me wonderful material to work with (and mess up and distort to suit my psychotic needs)

* * *

Chapter 22: Calling The Healer

Hotch returned to the expectant looking team members, and waved over Mr. Gordon. He looked at the man sternly, "I don't care how you do it, but we need that side door opened as soon as possible." Mr. Gordon nodded, and Hotch pulled out his phone and his wallet.

JJ looked at him, worry creased across her face, "What was that rumble, Hotch?"

Hotch looked at his phone, and then up at the team, all wearing identical looks. He couldn't lie to them. "An explosion, most likely from the gasoline fumes… it was in the basement."

JJ gasped and Prentiss put an arm around her to comfort her. Morgan looked pissed off, and ready to kill. Hotch sighed, digging a piece of paper out of his wallet as he flipped open his phone. He dialled the number and Morgan studied him.

"What are you doing, Hotch?" Morgan recognised the piece of paper as the same one they'd all received on Friday morning. A number to call in case of an emergency. Reid hadn't been given the number.

"Doing something I should have done a while ago." He stood and waited as the phone started to ring.

* * *

Gideon looked over at the disposable cell he'd gotten for his time off, it was ringing. Only four people had this number, and if it was being used something was wrong. He reached over and picked it up answering quickly, "Gideon."

It was Hotch's voice on the other end, and it heaved a heavy sigh, _"I'm glad I caught you. Didn't want to interrupt you, you obviously left due to some emergency, but…" _he paused, _"I think you need to be here."_

"What's happened, Aaron?" Gideon asked, standing up from the couch and moving through the house.

Hotch did his best to skim over the fine details and just give the facts of the past few days. _"Reid's been acting stranger then usual with you gone. We're all worried about him, especially JJ. She's positive there's something wrong with him, something he's not telling us. We're on a case in Winchester, Virginia, and it has just spiralled out of control." _He wasn't sure how to break this to Gideon gently, so he just went with it. _"Reid and 10 other civilians are trapped inside a burning office building. We're sure they're in the basement, but there was just an explosion down there. We don't know if they're alive or dead. Whatever the outcome I think you should be here."_

Gideon had put on his shoes, locked the house, and was now walking to his car. "Have you tried calling him?"

Hotch paused, calling Reid hadn't even occurred to him, _"No, I'll do that right away."_

Gideon sighed, but accepted this, "I'll be there in an hour."

_"What? Where are you?" _Hotch asked.

"I'm at home." The reply was straight forward and to the point.

_"I thought you had flown out somewhere?" _The confusion was obvious.

"That was I had told everyone. It was a test, Aaron. I was testing Reid. I'll explain more when I get there. I'll be there in a hour." he repeated.

_"Jason, it's an hour and a half drive from Quantico, and you're at home, it'll be longer from D.C. How can you make it in an hour?"_

"I said an hour. I'll be there. Even sooner if I can." He was already driving, dying to make it to the freeway where it was easier to speed.

Hotch decided not to ask questions and just relayed the information of their location. He debating saying it would probably be easier to just look for the cloud of black smoke and head towards it, but figured the address would cause less distress.

Hotch hung up, and the team gave him that expectant look again. "Gideon. He says he's on his way here."

Morgan cocked his head to the side, "He told us all he was leaving for a week."

"I know what he said. He's going to explain everything when he gets here." Hotch turned to where Mr. Gordon was and called out to him. "You got anything yet?"

Mr. Gordon shook his head and Hotch sighed, before pressing a speed dial number on his phone. It rang twice.

* * *

Reid stood in the now open doorway, trying to fight back more tears. He'd picked up his messenger bag, and had it over his shoulder. How could he have let this happen? It was his fault. He hadn't gotten them all out sooner. A hand touched him gently on the shoulder and he turned to see Jessica Goring smiling meekly at him.

"This isn't your fault." It was like she'd read his mind.

"How is this not my fault?" His tone was bitter and angry, but not at her, at himself.

"There was no way we were going to get out of this room; you don't think we'd all tried? That explosion was a Godsend. Our path is clear now. So someone died," she shrugged, "it happens."

"How can you be so heartless?" Reid asked. He expected Jessica to look offended, but she didn't.

"I'm not heartless, it was just meant to be. What if you hadn't drugged yourself up, and you had found a way out of this room, and we were all out in that hallway when it happened? We'd _all_ be dead! I'd rather one than all eleven of us. Even if it was me." She was using logic that unfortunately made sense, and hurt Reid's head. "How would you feel if we'd all died? He was an idiot anyway, shouldn't have been in the middle of the room. The edges were safer."

"What… What was he doing in the middle of the room by himself anyway?" Reid asked.

Jessica didn't have the heart to tell him the man was crawling across the room to make sure Reid was okay. She swallowed hard, "I have no idea."

Reid frowned and a weird chirping sound on his belt took his attention away. His phone was attempting to ring but it sounded sickly. He pulled it out looking at the bars of service on the display, only one bar and the name wasn't showing up properly. He flipped it open putting it to his ear, "Hello?" All he got was static for a response. "Hello?" he repeated, and more static replied. "If you can hear me, I can't hear you… Hello?" The line went dead. "Damn it!" Reid swore, despite it being out of character, and closed his phone.

Reid looked at the people huddled around the walls, "We're leaving. I'm going to get us out of here." Everyone nodded in agreement and stood, joining him by the door.

Hotch flipped his phone closed, not sure if what he heard, a whole lot of nothing, could be considered a good sign.

"What was that about?" Prentiss asked.

"Just tried to call Reid. Rang twice, then static, and then nothing. Didn't go to his answering service so someone must have answered it."

"S-S-So Spence is okay?" JJ asked, she'd been crying heavily into Prentiss' shoulder.

Hotch didn't want to give her any false hope, "All it means is someone, whether him or someone else close to him, answered his phone. That means someone is alive, and with any luck everyone else is, too."

Mr. Gordon came over and addressed Hotch. "No one on staff today was Maintenance or Construction so we don't have a key on site; I don't carry one. I've made a call, someone with a key will be here in 10 minutes."

"Can't we just bust the lock?" Morgan asked.

"I'd rather you didn't. I've got enough that'll have to be paid in damages as it is." Mr. Gordon replied.

They all looked up at the flames. It seemed like they were dying down. Perhaps all the gasoline was just about burned off. The structure itself still seemed fairly sound, but the inside would be in need of a complete renovation.

* * *

A/N: The title of this chapter as to do with the meaning of Gideon's first name. (as stated in 'No Way Out - 1') Jason means 'to heal'.


	23. Freedom

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds isn't mine, and so I make no profit, and cry myself to sleep.  
Dedicated to the writers. Hold the line!

* * *

Chapter 23: Freedom

The three sets of locks came unlocked without much difficulty, despite the fact rust seemed to have welded all the moving parts together. The door creaked open to reveal a set of stairs entering down into a high-ceilinged basement. The black smoke inside the building had settled slightly, and wasn't as thick. It thinned even more as it exited the basement through the open doorway. Hotch backed up from the door, and up the small outside set of stairs to ground level. A set of four firemen went in, trailing two lines behind them, so they could find their way back, and be able to split up.

Hotch looked up at the top floors; flames were no longer visible at the windows, but there was still a bright glow from inside. However the fire seemed to be dying down on its own as the accelerant was burned away. Though the structure still seemed sound there was always a fear of structural collapse, so the team had been told to move everyone even father back, onto field by the playground, and they were not permitted to help in the search. One of their men was in there, they had studied that floor plan, the firemen had not, and they were still being shut out!

Hotch returned to the team, out in the field. "They're searching. Hopefully we'll know something sooner and not later."

"And what are we supposed to do till then Hotch? We can't just sit around doing nothing!" Morgan was still upset over the whole situation.

JJ seemed to have calmed herself, "Morgan, I'm not sure there is anything else we can do." She looked over at Hotch.

Hotch shook his head, "I'm not sure either." He paused for a moment then thought of the only thing they could do. "Morgan, do you want to call for a set of ambulances? Whoever does make it out will probably need medical attention. We should be ready."

Morgan nodded and took out his phone.

* * *

Reid was unsure how long they'd been walking in the almost pitch black. The walls were covered in soot due to the explosion and there were still small remnants of smoke in the air. He would stop occasionally to do a head count, making sure everyone was still with them. It took him until the third time he'd tripped over the same shovel to realised they'd been going in circles. He sighed deeply, and his sigh was echoed by coughs from a few people behind him. He knew, due to the smoke, they should be crawling, not walking, but at this point that seemed futile. It would only take them longer if they crawled. Reid stopped for another head count and then asked for the time.

A glow filled the narrow hall, "3:30." came the reply.

Reid was shocked, had it been that long already? They'd left the room around 3:00, which meant they'd been walking in circles for a half hour already. He hadn't thought it had been that long. "Ok… Let's keep going."

"You have no idea how to get us out of here do you?" someone accused him.

He turned, but had no idea which person it was that had spoke, "You think I memorized the way out when I was dragged down here unconscious?"

No reply.

"That's what I thought. I'm just another hostage like any of you. I'm also an FBI agent. If we don't find our own way out of here, someone will find us." They were standing at a 'T' intersection in the hall, and Reid turned back to continue walking around the corner to the right this time. Something caught him in the stomach and he took in a gasping breath.

* * *

The firemen had split up 10 minutes previous, they'd been down there for 20 minutes and were getting nowhere. Splitting up into two groups let them cover more ground, and they had radio connection to each other and their head fireman outside if they found anything.

It was group one that stumbled across the open doorway. They looked around the room, shining the flashlight on their hardhats around the room. There was clear indication that people had been here recently, small food wrappers along with drug evidence, but the walls seemed untouched by the explosion except near the doorway. They noticed the door in the middle of the room, not quite sitting on the floor, and approached. The body they found was a young male, medium-hued straggly hair; he looked at peace with his eyes closed. The puddle of blood around the victim's neck was less peaceful. One of the firemen called it in once the other confirmed there was no pulse.

The team was waiting anxiously by the head fireman for any news to come over that radio. When it did, it was not what they wanted to hear.

_"Found a male, Caucasian, mid to late 20's, looks like he bled out from injuries caused by the explosion. He's definitely dead."_

The team gulped and Hotch looked at his watch, 3:34. _'Gideon should be here in another half hour.' _he thought. '_Let's just hope it doesn't take that long to find the rest of the survivors._' He also silently hoped that that dead male wasn't Reid, though somewhere in his heart he knew it wasn't. It couldn't be.

JJ and Prentiss were looking at Hotch concern in their eyes, asking a silent question.

"I don't think it's him." Hotch replied.

"How can you be sure?" JJ asked.

"It's called instinct, JJ. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut." Hotch was unaware that his words had just revitalized JJ's tenacity to prove herself right about Reid's drug use. That is, provided he made it out of that building alive.

* * *

Reid looked down at what had knocked the wind out of him. A large wire line spread down the corridor in either direction. His face lit up gleefully. This hadn't been here the last time they'd come down this hall, which meant someone else was down here looking for them. At one end of this line would be people, at the other end the exit. It didn't really matter which way they went, either one would save them.

He put his palms face up under the thick wire to get a better look at it. This was what would save them all. He ducked under it to the other side, and grabbed it in his right hand. "Everyone, grab hold of this wire and follow me."

Everyone did as they were told, and soon they were moving down the hall again at a much faster pace than before. It still took them another 10 minutes, picking up the speed as they went, before they rounded a corner and saw the light of day bisecting the hall in front of them from their left. Reid stepped up to the corner, but not around it, and looked back at the other men and woman that were with him. "We did it." he whispered.

Everyone smiled at him, even the usually hard-assed form of Jason McGinnis. Jessica Goring and her boyfriend released the line and stepped up to Reid. "Thank you." she said. "Thank you for doing everything you could." She glanced back at the others, making her tone firm, even though she had no authority over them, "We promise none of us will say a word about your… lapse in judgement." There were mumbled agreements. "We owe you that much. You're a great agent."

Reid shook his head, "I won't have you lying for me. I knew I'd have to face my problem eventually, maybe now's the time. If you're ever asked to testify, and you have to recount everything that happened… No, I won't ask you to lie for me under oath."

"You're not asking. I'm saying it's what we're going to do. You were always determined to get us out, even if you went about it the wrong way. You're the same as any of us, I'm willing to bet you haven't even told your closest friend about your problem. None of us would want to be exposed like that, so we're not going to do it to the man that saved our lives." Jessica wasn't giving up.

Reid sighed, "I'm a profiler for the FBI, and you're profiling me?" he chuckled slightly at the irony. "I didn't save you all, I might have helped, but that door would have blown off in the explosion had I been there or not. That's what saved us."

"Quit being so humble and just accept our offer."

Reid closed his eyes with a frown, and then opened his eyes again, "I can't accept your offer." Jessica opened her mouth to argue with him and he held up a hand to stop her, "I can't accept it, but I won't reject it either. I'll just pretend you never told me."

Jessica seemed satisfied with this and she nodded.

"Good. Now come on everyone." He forced as much enthusiasm into his voice that he could and nodded his head around the corner, "Go towards that light."

Everyone else released the line and walked around the corner, shielding their eyes from the direct sunlight. One-by-one they started up the stairs and to their freedom.

Reid waited until everyone else was on the stairs before he reached into his bag. He pulled out his remaining syringes, no more than a handful, and looked at them for a moment. He was going to quit, he had no choice. He'd just go until after these last two phials he'd ordered were done, and that would be it. No more. As much as he'd like to just quit cold-turkey right now, after already having to feel just the beginning effects of withdrawals he didn't think he was strong enough to last through that kind of torment for days. So he'd wean himself off, on his own, over the next couple weeks.

He vaguely realised that's what he'd been trying to do with Gideon's support and the moment he was left on his own he'd spiralled downhill. He wasn't sure what made him think he could succeed on his own now, but he was going to try. He put the syringes back and stepped into the light.

* * *

A/N: Could end the whole thing here ya know... However... that would just be mean and silly of me... I still have one more major event planned. /grins/ Bet you won't guess what. (and I mean specifically guess, you may get slightly close but that doesn't count. :P )


	24. Love And Flesh Wounds

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. This is all in fun.  
Dedicated to the writers. Let's see that contract already!

* * *

Chapter 24: Love And Flesh Wounds

Hotch paced back and forth near the head of the outside set of stairs. He knew he needed to stay calm, but not hearing any word for the last 10 minutes was nerve wracking. How long did it take to search a freaking basement! He'd developed a predictable pattern of staring at the head fireman's radio, then at his watch, then at the door at the bottom of the stairs. He raked a hand through his short hair and looked to the sky. Where the hell was Gideon? Just 15-20 more minutes.

The team watched Hotch with nervous eyes. None of them had ever seen him this stressed out before. His usual calm and collected exterior was shattering, and they had no idea why. Yes, they had a team member in danger, but that member had always made it out alive in any other situation. Luck had to be on his side. None of them wanted to admit that it may just mean his luck was running out. How many more near-death experiences could one person handle before he cracked and lost his mind? Prentiss wondered if Reid would have a statistic on something like that. Probably not, or at least she hoped there wasn't one. That would imply it happened to others on a regular or semi-regular basis.

Hotch had just turned his head from looking down the outside set of stairs and was now trying to locate the head fireman's radio to stare at it for a moment. Something caught his eye and drew his attention back. People were coming out of the dark basement; they all moved single file up the next set of stairs towards him. Every last one of them was covered in dirt, soot, grime, and blood. Some looked worse off than others; mostly they all just looked fatigued. It was a well known look; once someone new they were safe, they stopped trying to fight and gave in to their body's need for rest. Aside from the fatigue there were superficial cuts and scrapes on all of them.

Morgan was calling for the medics while the hostages gathered at the top of the stairs. Hotch tried to count them all, to find Reid, but he didn't see him. Nine, there were only nine people here. Where was Reid? Hotch addressed the group of people, "There was an FBI agent with you! Where is he?"

Jessica Goring was the first to look back down the stairs, "He was right behind us…" Just after she finished her sentence Reid came around the corner and into the sunshine.

Reid blinked a few times, but the sun still seemed too bright. He looked up at the crowd at the top of the stairs and then started up them. Jessica was the first person he met when he reached the top, while Hotch was trying to push his way closer. She hugged him and Reid wasn't exactly sure how to react with her boyfriend standing just feet away.

"Sheesh! You scared me there for a moment, thought we'd lost you." She let him go and took a step back looking at him and her jaw dropped slightly. "You're bleeding." She reached a tentative hand up to his forehead.

"What?" Reid asked, taking a step back from her and almost falling down the stairs. A quick grab of his wrist by both Jessica and Hotch stopped him. Once he steadied himself he reached up and touched his left hand to his forehead. It came away thick with blood. "How?" Reid asked another question, but didn't expect an answer.

"I don't know." Jessica decided to reply anyway. "I saw it when we were down there, but in the darkness I just thought it was more dirt. How could you not know you were bleeding?" She was sure she could guess the answer, but she wasn't about to voice it.

"I-I-I…" Reid blinked confused, squinting from the still too bright sunlight. Morgan had made it through the crowd, and he and Hotch started to lead Reid through and off to the side. The less people crammed in one area the better. The medics needed to look over everyone, and to do that they needed space.

Prentiss started to break up the group, putting each person in the capable hands of a paramedic; occasionally two people per medic. She didn't notice JJ begin to walk off towards Morgan, Hotch, and Reid.

Reid smiled at the two males in front of him. "S-sorry about… getting caught… again."

Morgan chuckled and pulled Reid into an embrace. "Just don't do it again. Please. I think we've all had enough heart attacks wondering whether or not if you're going to make it through your next life-threatening experience."

Reid nodded and made eye contact with Hotch, "I'll try." he whispered, his voice was beginning to rasp, and he was still squinting.

"Let's get you cleaned up, Kid." Morgan said turning to find an available medic as JJ joined them.

Reid and Hotch looked at each other for a moment, staying an arms length away before Hotch finally cracked a smiled and gave Reid a hug. "I'm glad you're okay." Hotch whispered before stepping back again. "We need to get that cut of your sorted out."

Reid looked confused again for a second before he remembered, "Oh yeah. Yeah I should get it looked at. How bad is it?"

"Bad enough you should feel it." Hotch said.

"Must be the natural adrenaline." His eyes shifted to the ground and then up, accidentally making eye contact with JJ. He quickly looked away again.

JJ looked at him, torn between being undeniably happy to see him after thinking he could have been dead, and wanting to call him out about the drugs again. Now wasn't the time for it though, however she wouldn't let him forget she knew. "Spence, you're pupils are dilated."

"Hmm, like I said, must be the epinephrine… adrenaline." He explained, looking at the ground. "It can act as a pain killer in certain situations, which would explain the cut." He glanced up at her again. He was unsure if he was covering his tacks, or confessing through the use of subtlety.

JJ just stared at him for a moment before she released a breath she hadn't known she was holding, "I'm just so glad your okay." She took a step forward to take her turn in hugging him, "Nothing else matters, at least for now." she whispered in his ear, before stepping back.

Prentiss was done dealing with the, now free, hostages and stepped over to the group of agents. "Good to see you again, Reid. You've got to sto--"

"Stop doing this. I know." he cracked a small smile, and Prentiss gave him one more hug to go with his collection.

Morgan brought over a paramedic who took Reid by the shoulder and led him off to the back of an ambulance, where his supplies were. They all watched him go, and then Morgan took out his phone. "I'm going to call Garcia. We should have been keeping her in the loop."

Hotch nodded, but his words weren't in total agreement. "It might have been better we didn't tell her. Now you can give her the bad news and the good news at once. She doesn't have to stress about it."

Morgan silently agreed and moved to find a quite spot to talk.

Reid sat on what would be considered the floor in the back on the ambulance, with his legs hanging out the back. He was motionless and calm while the medic cleaned and disinfected the cut.

"Looks like a bad cut, but it's not. Just a lot of blood. Head wounds bleed more than usual, you know?" the medic explained.

"Yeah, I know." Reid mumbled his reply.

"I don't think you'll need stitches. I'll just patch it up and you should be good to go." The medic started to put a small dressing on the cut.

"Thank you." Reid replied, one had resting on his messenger bag at his side. He watched over the medic's shoulder as, one-by-one, the people he'd spent time with down in that room started mingling in with the employees that had now been standing for hours out in this field. Why they hadn't been released was unclear to Reid. Had they not found the man who did this yet? Or were they released, and everyone had decided to stick around anyway? Whatever the case, he didn't think that they should be mixing together like that.

"Alright, we're done here." the medic said giving Reid an encouraging smile.

Reid nodded thanks and hopped off the back, and onto the ground, being careful not to loose his balance, even though he still felt quite unsteady. That was just what he needed, to stumble and fall in front of a paramedic. He was about to walk towards the mass of people in the field before he paused and looked back. "You don't happen to have the time do you?"

The medic nodded, and looked at his watch, "Just after 4."

Reid's eyes went wide and he mumbled thanks before continuing to head towards the crowd. He had a meeting to get to.


	25. A Price To Pay

A/N: Don't kill me.

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine... I just like to torture Reid for fun.  
Dedicated to the writers! Hope you can start writing soon!

* * *

Chapter 25: A Price To Pay

Reid planned out the path he would take, suddenly consumed by the need to get the two new phials. Through the crowd, across the small park, across the street, into the alley, in less than 15 minutes. It didn't seem hard, and then he could come back, and it would all be over in a couple of weeks. He needed those two phials to get him through it though. He'd done his part to rescue the hostages, freed himself, he didn't feel he needed to think like an agent now, just as a man. He was part way through the crowd when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Morgan looking at him.

"Where you off to, Genius?" Morgan asked.

"I-I-I was just going to see if I could find everyone that I was with, you know, down there. I want to make sure they're all okay." he did his best to cover his tracks.

"Alright, cool." Morgan nodded, "Just come back over to us when you're done. There's someone coming who's going to want to see you."

"Sure, of course." Reid had no idea who the person could be. The possibility of it being Gideon didn't even cross his mind

"Good, oh and Garcia sends her love." Morgan smiled.

Reid smiled back and waited until Morgan turned and left before he carried on. Through the crowd, through the crowd, make it through… Yes! He broke out the other side and glanced back, he didn't notice anyone paying attention to him, and he couldn't see the team from where he was, so that was good. He started at a brisk walk which broke into a jog as he moved across the park and then across the road, glancing over his shoulder every few feet until he stepped into the cover of the alley.

* * *

Jessica watched the man that had guided them out of that hell hole. She knew where he was going. There was only one reason anyone would go down that alley. She'd been down it many times before. The pain in her eyes spread all the way into her soul.

No human should ever be that broken, especially one that seemed to have been so innocent at one point. Her heart was saddened as she watched him disappear from view, but she'd vowed to not speak a word, so that's exactly what she would do. To her, breaking a promise was the worst act one could commit.

* * *

Gideon pulled up and took in the scene. He was 5 minutes later than he had intended, but he'd made it. He hopped out of his car and jogged over to the team members he could see. They turned to greet him, all obviously happy to see him. Gideon licked his lips, "So where's Reid? Did they all make it out?" he asked, keeping his voice calm though they all knew how he must be feeling.

"Yes," Hotch said, "everyone made it out, except one." Gideon didn't look comforted by this, so Hotch continued, "Reid is just getting checked over by a paramedic over there…" He pointed towards where Reid had been and noticed the ambulance had closed its rear doors and was pulling away. He looked to where other ambulances had been and they too were either packing up or already gone. If everyone had been cleared there was no reason for them to stick around.

Morgan stepped in to verify Reid's whereabouts, "Don't worry, he was just looking for the others he was with. Wanted to make sure they were all okay. I think he's a little scared of loosing another one. From what I've been able to overhear from the firemen and the paramedics they led down there, the man died due to the explosion. Reid was there then, probably saw it happen. I'd want to make sure no one else was going to die. He said he's be right over."

Everyone nodded and JJ looked up at Gideon, "Hotch mentioned you were testing Reid, why?"

Gideon sighed, "It's a long story, Hotch knows some of it. Reid's been 'struggling', to use his words, since what happened with Hankel."

"We've noticed." Morgan said trying to move the story along.

"I told him I'd help however I could. He hasn't told me what the problem is yet, though." Gideon continued.

Hotch nodded, "I've told him he's coming clean to all of us as soon as this case is officially closed. All depends on how long it takes to book and charge Chester Reynolds, and to sign off on the paperwork. His issues were almost distracting us from the case." He glanced at JJ who averted her eyes. "I wasn't going to allow that, so we'll all know soon enough."

Gideon frowned, looking at the ground, and nodded, "He'd been doing so much better lately. Not calling me as much, better at work, I thought this would be the final step. Thought it would force him to draw strength from within and not constantly rely on a lifeline. I thought he was ready." He looked up into the eyes of his team mates, friends, family. "I was wrong."

"It's okay, Jason." Hotch said, "We can't all always be right on the first try. We weren't on this case. Should have trusted our profile and not the opinions of the people around us. In the end the profile was exactly right, and we'd chosen to ignore a few crucial parts of it. We could have ended this before any of today's events had to happen." The whole team heaved a sigh.

"It could have ended worse." Gideon reminded them. He glanced towards the crowd, looking for Reid, but it was impossible to see everyone in that mass. That was when they heard _it_; each of their law enforcement and protection instincts took over and they took off running.

* * *

Reid walked down the alley until he saw the man standing off to the side. The man nodded once and Reid walked over to him.

He was tall, clean cut save for his hair was a little long, blonde. Didn't look like the drug selling type. He eyed Reid's gun on his hip and Reid shrugged nervously. He was lucky the state of Virginia required no permit for carrying a non-concealed weapon, anyone could, or there may have been more questions asked. The man just looked him up and down a couple times before asking, "Dilaudid?"

Reid nodded, "Y-yes." He always hated the drop off.

"Right, we need to discuss your payment."

"I usually pay--"

"I know what you usually pay, but I was given permission to charge what I wanted. So, this would usually go for about 100 or more through a pharmacy, even harder to come by on the street, so 200... Each."

"200 each! You've got to be kidding me! That's 400!!" Reid was shocked.

"I can do my own math thank you. That's the deal…" he paused, "Or I could cut the price down if you _do_ something for me."

Reid didn't like the sound of what that was implying, especially after his Friday night in the men's room. "No… No, I'll pay you everything I have, but I don't think I have that much." Reid took out his wallet, flipped it open and started thumbing through it for his bills.

"You." The voice of the other man was calm, and Reid hadn't even noticed he'd moved, "You're a cop."

Reid looked up slowly into the barrel of a gun. He took two steps back, shaking his head, "No! No no no, I'm not. Well I am, but I'm not right now."

He didn't even get a warning before the gun went off. The bullet hit him in his left shoulder and took him down easier than it should have. Reid wondered for a moment if he was still feeling unsteady on his feet. He hadn't noticed, but now that he was on his back on the ground it didn't matter. He heard running footsteps as his dealer's delivery boy ran off.

Well this was an unexpected turn of events, and he hadn't even gotten what he'd come for. Reid tried to swallow but his throat felt clogged. He hoped he was just imagining that, but didn't think on it too long before he finally felt the pain in his shoulder. Pain, he finally felt a significant amount of pain. It was new, and it was strange, and it was oddly welcome.

* * *

A/N: -waits for the yells and for things to start flying- I'm sorry! I had to! I still love you all! -whimper-


	26. Only a Hallucination

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. A LOT of research went into this chapter, and the following ones. Had to make sure I was biologically correct, and figure out the type of gun and bullet, because that makes a significant difference to the type of injury... yadda yadda ect ect... Needless to say it took forever, but I think I finally have everything I need. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine. I only wish I had part of it.  
Dedicated to the writers... Hope the talks today are going/went your way. Cheers!

* * *

Chapter 26: Only a Hallucination

Morgan, Hotch and Gideon reached the alley first, each of them stopped dead at the person they saw laying in the dirt and filth. JJ and Prentiss arrived three seconds later, but couldn't see much through the three men in front of them. Prentiss could tell there was someone lying on the ground and was immediately on her phone, calling 911. Jessica was third on the scene, her boyfriend in tow, she already knew who it was, and didn't have to see.

After the short pause of surprise, Gideon rushed forward and knelt next to Reid, putting pressure on the wound to slow the bleeding. Morgan sidestepped to get a better view, mumbling about wishing that the paramedics hadn't already left, and took in all the medical information he could see, relaying the information to Prentiss on the phone. Male, 20's, height, weight, gunshot wound to the left shoulder, pressure being applied, victim is a Federal Agent.

Prentiss gave Morgan a look before she stumbled over the words; she glanced at JJ who was staring at the scene. Prentiss stepped over to JJ and followed her line of sight. After Morgan had moved out of the way JJ could see enough of the person to know immediately who it was; Reid. Prentiss' chest constricted and she swallowed hard continuing to speak to the 911 operator while placing a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder.

Hotch had taken his jacket off, dropped it on the ground, and rolled up his sleeves. He moved to Reid's other side, where the wound was, and took over putting pressure on the wound. Gideon placed a firm hand on either side of Reid's neck to keep him still while he looked down into the young mans eyes. There was moisture, and tear streaks down his face. Gideon shook his head, his heart breaking for this man who was, for all intents and purposes, his son. "What were you doing here, Reid?" he whispered, not expecting a reply.

Morgan had ran down to the opposite end of the alley but whoever had done this was long gone by now. He swore, kicked some trash out into the street and then came back to Reid. He cursed himself for not running down the alley right from the start, but it had taken them longer than desired to even get to the front of the alley. It probably wouldn't have made a difference.

JJ was shaking her head, looking both angry and sad at the same time. "Why is this happening again?" She turned to Prentiss, "Why does all the bad stuff always happen to him?"

"I don't know, JJ. I don't have the answers." She turned away from JJ, looking behind them and saw Jessica burying her head in Leo Setter's strong broad shoulders. It would have made a cute picture if it wasn't so sad.

Prentiss stepped over to them, still holding the phone to her ear in case the operator needed to ask her something else, and waited for Jessica to look up at her. "Do you know anything? Anything that could help us?"

"N-no." Jessica sniffled, and shook her head. "I just saw him walk over here, that's it."

Prentiss frowned and nodded. "Okay, just don't go too far." Finally they could hear the sirens closing in. Help was coming.

Reid's eyes were sad, and pained, and confused, but they had a dullness to them that made them look dead, despite the emotion. A face came into view, Gideon, Gideon's face. Reid wanted to furrow his brow and look confused, but it hurt too much. Everything hurt. He hadn't felt pain like this in months. But Gideon was here, so he'd be ok now, Gideon would save him. Always saved him.

He barely felt the strong hands steady his neck, but he was sure he saw the mouth move. It occurred to him then that he couldn't hear anything, everything was deadly silent. The sights were too bright, and too blurred. It didn't feel real. Maybe he'd died and was in some form of heaven? Was that why Gideon was here? He was just imagining the person he most wished he could see.

Reid tried to talk and coughed instead, a fine spray of blood coming from his mouth. He wanted so badly to tell Gideon he was sorry, that he'd slipped further into his deep dark hole, even if it was only his mind's manifestation of Gideon he'd be telling. He could feel the cold hard ground beneath him, and pressed his fingers of his right hand into the ground.

Good, he could move that side. He inched his hand over, just wanting to touch the form of Gideon he didn't believe was there. Maybe if he touched it, it could be come real. He felt something, he actually felt something. A knee perhaps, yes, and a thigh. His eyes flitted back and forth trying so hard to make sense of what he was seeing and feeling. This couldn't be real; this was too good to be real.

He swallowed hard and finally tasted blood, that couldn't be good. He tried to talk again, and managed some slurred words. "Dahhm thowwee." His tongue felt swollen and sore, just something else to add to his pain. He wasn't even sure if he's spoken because he still couldn't hear, but the person before his eyes seemed to be replying.

Gideon didn't flinch as Reid coughed an almost mist-like spray of blood onto them both. He watched as a small trickle of blood escaped from the side of Reid's mouth. He wanted to wipe it away, to make sure nothing so grotesque could stain Reid's perfect pale skin. It looked like something vile, something they would see in a crime scene photo. He didn't want to see Reid like that. He couldn't move his hands though, because they needed to make sure Reid didn't move his neck.

Gideon felt something touch his leg, and looked down to see Reid's hand. He wanted to comfort it, but again was denied this small action due to the need for absolute safety. He wondered if Reid realised how vicelike his grip on his thigh was becoming, though. He heard Reid's words but didn't try to make out what they were, "No, Spencer. Shhh, don't try to talk. We're going to get you some help. Paramedics will be here soon, just relax." Gideon knew he had to stay calm in order for Reid to stay calm.

He looked up at Hotch on the opposite side of Reid, who, in turn, looked up at him. They both wore matching grim expressions. Hotch wet his lips, "He just apologized to you." Gideon looked confused for a second, so Hotch continued, "What does he have to be sorry to you about?"

"I don't know. Whatever it was that got him into this position in the first place? Or the way he'd been acting on this case? We'll have time to find out if the paramedics would ever get here!" He took a breath and calmed himself again. "I should be the one apologizing for leaving him when he needed me."

"We don't have time to think about that right now. We'll sort everything out, our consciences included, after Reid's alright."

Gideon nodded and they both looked back down at Reid. His eyes looked distant and gone. "No, come on Reid, stay with us!" Gideon demanded. "I won't let you leave yet. You may know more than all of us combined, but you're still too young. It's not your time." Reid blinked once, slowly, and Gideon took that as enough of a sign that Reid agreed, though he was unaware Reid couldn't hear him, at least he was still alive.

Jessica and Leo stood off to the side, near the mouth of the alley, watching for the ambulance. Prentiss, JJ, and Morgan stood closer inside, all watching Reid nervously, Morgan with a hint of anger at whoever had done this. The all snapped their heads toward the alley opening as Jessica yelled.

"It's here! I see it! It's coming!" She was jumping up and down and waving her arms at it.

Prentiss informed the operator that the ambulance had arrived and disconnect the call. She checked the conversation timer on the phone, 5 minutes. Not a bad response time, but it felt like it had taken forever.

The ambulance driver was smart and backed into the alley. Everyone on the sidelines stood back as the paramedics rushed out and over to Gideon, Hotch, and the injured Reid.

One of them relived Gideon of his duties, placing a collar around Reid's neck to keep him still. Gideon sat looking at Reid while another medic took over Hotch's position, of keeping the wound from bleeding. Hotch stood up and stepped back getting out of the way. He looked down at the blood on his hands; Reid's blood. His life force, something that should have been so pure, seemed so dark and sordid. One of the medics handed him a clean towel from the back of the ambulance. He took it, but simply held it between his hands.

The other medic was yelling at Gideon, "Sir, you have to move out of the way. We need to work here. Sir!"

Gideon snapped his head up from looking at Reid, dismayed over the fact that blood was soiling his fluffy hair. "Pardon me?"

"You need to move, and give us some space."

"I can't." The paramedic gave him a confused look, and Gideon glanced down at Reid's fervent grip on his thigh. It seemed like he was holding on for dear life, and if the connection broke that would be the end. "He won't let me."

"I'm sorry; you're still going to have to move."

Gideon reached down and practically pried Reid's fingers off his leg. He held Reid's hand between both of his for a moment, before placing it back where it had been. The strangled cry Reid let out was heart-breaking and Gideon swallowed hard, standing up and moving back.

Reid watched helplessly as his mind's manifestation of Gideon was suddenly no longer between his fingers. It was keeping him sane, and now it was gone. The vision was fading away too, then there was nothing but blue, like the sky. A face he didn't know took over Gideon's position, and Reid wanted to whimper. His lifeline was gone.

This new face was trying to talk to him, and he wished his words would make sense so he could tell them he couldn't hear.

The paramedic was talking to Reid and not getting any valid response. "Hey, can you hear me? Can you tell me your name? What's your name, son."

Gideon spoke up from behind the medic, "SSA Dr. Spencer Reid."

The medic nodded. "Alright, Spencer, here's what we're going to do." He went on to explain how they were going to roll him onto his right side, place a backboard down, and then roll him back onto it.

They started the roll and the second medic noticed something. "Looks like a possible exit wound on this side." He placed a thick gauze patch over the second wound to slow the bleeding, before they rolled him back.

The team watched as Reid was loaded onto a stretcher, and put into the back of the ambulance. One of the medics called out. "We can take one! Who's coming?"

Gideon looked at Hotch, and everyone else looked at Gideon. He nodded, "Yeah, I'll go." He stepped into the back of the vehicle and the doors were shut. They watched it pull away, sirens on again.

Morgan was on the phone, calling Garcia, as they all jogged back across the road to the SUV. Hotch, who was finally wiping his hands clean, caught sight of Detective Douglass and made a quick detour. "We have to go to the hospital. You can take over here."

"Yeah sure. I can handle it. Why are you leaving?"

Hotch didn't want to get into the details with this man, so he kept it simple, "An agent was shot. Get that area," he pointed to the alley, "sectioned off, it's a crime scene." He then turned, going back to the SUV. Detective Douglass looked at the gathered agents and knew who was missing.

Jessica and Leo caught up to the remaining team members. "Hey! Wait!" Jessica called out. Hotch turned around, looking slightly annoyed, not wanting to be stalled any longer. "Sorry, Agent. I don't know your name. Didn't even know Spencer's until a few moments ago when your other agent… he was another agent right? ...when he told the medic. Anyway, would we be intruding if we went to the hospital with you? You guys seem like such a close family, and I hardly know Spencer, but I feel like I owe him. We both do." She looked at Leo. "So if it wouldn't be an intrusion…"

Hotch shook his head. "You need to stay here until you get cleared, and then you can meet us there, but for now, no." They jumped into the SUV leaving Jessica and Leo standing on their own.

* * *

Gideon watched the medics work, staying out of the way. It wouldn't do Reid any good to get in the way of the people trying to help him. He listened carefully to what they were doing, trying to ignore the whimpering noise Reid was making.

"Breathing's shallow, give him some O2."

"There's blood in his mouth, it's possible the bullet pierced a lung."

"How bad is it?"

"Hmmm… Only a little, there'd be more if it had hit a lung, and he's not choking on it."

"Check his mouth for any injuries."

"Yes… looks like he bit his tongue, probably when he fell."

It went on and on like this, back and forth, and Gideon watched and listened. The oxygen helped control Reid's breathing, and they gave him a shot of Morphine for the pain. Reid's whimpers stopped shortly thereafter. Gideon checked his watch, they should be there within a minute, and then it would be a waiting game.


	27. Zero

A/N: You know... the more reviews I get the faster I update. Hardly got any reviews so far on the last chapter. Almost didn't want to post this one. I'm just going to tell myself some of you haven't been online in a few days.

----------------------

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.  
Dedicated to the writers... more talks... but at least that's better than no talks.

Chapter 27: Zero

Gideon sat in the waiting room, and looked up as the rest of the team rushed in. He'd washed his hands of Reid's blood, and noted that Hotch had mostly cleaned his. They looked at him all asking a silent question. He licked his lips, lacing his fingers together in front of him, "He's in surgery. There's a washroom down the hall if you want to finish cleaning up." he added to Hotch.

Hotch shook his head, and took a seat next to Gideon, mirroring his position: leaned forward, elbows on knees, fingers laced, worried frown. He was still in his shirt, and rolled up sleeves, his suit jacket lying forgotten in an alley. Everyone else took surrounding seats, casting each other anxious looks as the minutes ticked by.

Minutes, hours, days? No one was sure how long it was before a doctor finally walked towards them. All they knew was that it felt like forever. Everyone stood at once and crowded together; none of them could read the expression on the doctor's face.

He spoke slowly and calmly, "I'm Doctor Girandole, I preformed the surgery. You'll be happy to know he's made it through surgery without any major complications."

"So there were minor complications?" Morgan asked, rather forcefully.

"He had laboured breathing a few times throughout surgery. He should be stable now but he'll continue to be monitored for that while he recovers."

Gideon nodded, "Happened on the way over too."

The doctor handed Hotch a small, plastic, Ziploc-like, bag. "Recovered the bullet. It was lodged in his left scapula; shoulder blade."

"I thought the paramedic's said it was a through-and-though?" Hotch asked, confused.

"It appeared to be. There was a wound at the back; we closed that up without a problem. It was mostly likely caused by the kinetic energy the bullet released upon impact with the bone. Split the skin, very minor all things considered." He paused, waiting for someone to say something again, but no one did so he continued. "Overall he was exceedingly lucky. A fraction down, or to his right, and the bullet would have hit the subclavian artery. This is a fairly major vessel, there's good chance he could have bled out before help arrived. I'll let you know when you can see him. Someone's just getting him into a gown now, and getting him into his room. He'll still be asleep for a while, but I'll permit you to see him."

Everyone nodded gratefully, and JJ spoke up, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

The doctor nodded once, "Of course. I'll be back when he's ready." He gave them each a nod in turn in then left the same way he came.

----------------------

The orderly assigned to dressing Reid wasn't overly pleased about the deal. It was all part of the job, but this had to be the most boring part, and possibly the hardest. Restraining wild patients he could do, but stripping, and then dressing, a person who was essentially dead weight was more difficult than it would seem.

He bundled up Reid's clothes in a bag, setting them next to the messenger bag he'd had with him when he came in. They were all on a side table in his room now. He turned back, hospital gown in hand, at least this was the easier part. He slipped Reid's left hand into one sleeve, and paused on his right. Track marks. The orderly chuckled to himself; druggie scum got himself shot. This was a fairly common sight, and always had a wonderful story to it. Made things a little more exciting. He tried to work out what the story could be as he fed Reid's arm through the other sleeve. Reid was dirty and skinny, probably a homeless street person. His hair hadn't been washed in a few days. Obviously a druggie; heroin, in all probability. Shot because he still owed money? Rumour had it he was being accompanied by Federal Agents, so perhaps it was something bigger? Maybe it was one of them who shot him?

The possibilities were endless, and the orderly went through all the ones he could think of as he rolled Reid over and did up the tie in the back. When he was finished Reid's various IV's were set into his left forearm. One, blood plasma to help with blood loss; another, fluids to help hydrate him; and the last, a morphine drip so he wouldn't wake up in excruciating pain.

--------------------

The doctor returned to the impatient group. "You can see him now. Follow me." He led the way to Reid's room. They could see him through the window on the door. He looked so young and innocent, yet so deeply broken. Tubes and wires for the monitors, and other hideous things surrounding him. JJ couldn't help but notice how the hospital gown seemed like it was five-times too big, and hung off him like large, pale blue, circus tent. Doctor Girandole turned to the group again. "Five minutes each and only one at a time, please. I'll let you sort it out amongst yourselves."

Once again everyone looked at Gideon, but he shook his head. "I got to ride here with him. Someone else can go first, I can wait."

They all looked at each other and no one spoke for a moment before Prentiss finally broke the silence. "I'll go first, then." she said, unsure if no one else wanted to see him, of they, like her, didn't want to seem greedy in going first. She hoped for the latter.

She entered the room silently, closing the door behind her, and then took a seat next to Reid's bed. She'd never quite understood why people talked to unconscious people in hospitals if they couldn't hear, but now it seemed like the right thing to do. "Hey Reid." she whispered, "You've got to stop doing this. Any more life threatening situations and you're going to cause JJ's psyche to break. I think she's already on the edge, though she's hiding it well, and you two aren't even together. Could you imagine what it'd be like it you were? Actually no, don't imagine that. I shouldn't be filling your head with ideas like that when you can't deflect them." She smiled a little, and checked her watch; a few more minutes.

She looked up at the monitor that was keeping tabs on his vital signs. She searched for the one monitoring his breathing; RSP, there it was. It read 16. She wasn't sure what the average breath rate per minute was, but 16 seemed like a good number, and there weren't any alarms going off. She stood up from her chair with a sigh, "We'll all be back in for a visit when you wake up, but for now I have to go and let someone else in." She turned and exited he room.

Prentiss looked at JJ, making an executive decision on who was going next. JJ nodded, and entered the room. She walked slowly over to Reid, swallowing a lump in her throat, and sat in the seat Prentiss had vacated. "Oh, Spence, why?" she murmured. "Why were you in that alley? I think I know, and I wish I didn't. When you wake up, please, give us a good excuse. Prove me wrong." She sat in silence, just looking at him. His thin wrists, his lean face, his almost invisible body beneath the hospital gown and blankets pulled up to his waist. She studied every visible part of him, and then watched the monitor create its little lines and waves. No alarms, no red warning light next to any of the sections. Respiratory rate was sitting at 15. Everything seemed good.

She stood and leaned forward, brushing a stray lock of hair from Reid's closed eyes. "Wake up soon, Spence. You'll need to tell us what happened, and what's been going on." She straightened up, casting him one last look, before leaving the room.

Morgan went in next. He spun the chair around, straddled it, and folded his arms over the back. He chatted casually, never gaining a response, but he was alright with that. He never liked pretending something had changed when someone was in the hospital. They were the same person as far as he was concerned, so why should he talk to them any different? He cracked a couple jokes, though he was the only one that laughed, and filled Reid in on what he'd missed on the case when he'd been trapped in the basement. He too checked the vital signs monitor for Reid's RSP Rate, this time it read 13. Morgan stood and left the room with a smile on his face.

Hotch was the next one to take a seat at Reid side. He glanced at the monitors first, and Reid's RSP read 12. He frowned, trying to remember what the normal rate for an adult was. He was sure Reid would know right away but it took him a few short moments to remember. 12-20 seemed to be right, so Reid was on the low side. Given everything he'd just endured, and coming off the anaesthesia, and on morphine, that seemed to be acceptable though.

He was the first to stroke Reid's hand, it was cool. Not the same coldness that death held, but close. He studied Reid's face, his pale skin and his light lips. He looked almost lifeless, if it wasn't for the sluggish rise and fall of his chest. Hotch let his hand drape gently over Reid's. "I think," he finally said, "that we all what to know why, Reid? Why you haven't been yourself? Why were you in that alley? Why did this happen? I think the answer is the same for every question. JJ knew, and I told her to let it go. Maybe this wouldn't have happened had I let her speak. I won't allow any more secrets on this team. It could have gotten you killed, Reid."

He watched Reid breathe painfully slow. He looked back up at the monitor, it had fallen to 11, but breathing varied minute-to-minute. As he was looking at it, it clicked to 10, and a small red light came on. Hotch stood quickly, looking at his watch and counting down to the next minute when the monitor would change again. He looked up: 8. Too slow, that was way too slow. He stepped backwards, slowly, towards the door, glancing between Reid and the monitor until it changed again: 6.

Hotch spun opening the door and yelling, "We need a doctor in here!!" Mere seconds after the words left his mouth the alarms on the monitor started ringing. He looked back to see a large 'zero' being displayed.


	28. No More Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Criminal Minds.  
Dedicated to the writers. Come on! Almost there!

Chapter 28: No More Secrets

The nearest doctor along with three others professionals rushed towards the room. Hotch stood to the side holding the door open for them as they entered. After they were in the room Hotch looked at the other team members and continued holding the door for them with a look of urgency on his face. They were lucky that, though it was a single occupancy room, it was a large room.

The team stood near the, now closed, door listening to the alarms ringing wildly. They tried to hear the doctor's yells over the noise. "He's gone into respiratory arrest! We need to get him breathing again ASAP." A nurse has stuck a mask over Reid's nose and mouth and was squeezing a bag to represent breathing. The doctor picked up Reid's chart from the end of the bed, and was reading his reason for admittance and current treatment. He put the chart back, "Any change?"

"No, sir. He's still not breathing on his own." another in the room answered, he looked like a resident.

"Stop manual breathing." The nurse did as told and the doctor looked at the remaining person in the room, another nurse. "Get a crash cart in here stat! He's about to go into cardiac arrest!" The other nurse rushed off, and Hotch stepped forward.

"What are you doing? Letting his heart fail is a step backwards!"

"I'm a doctor; I know what I'm going to do! I can't give you a guarantee that it'll work, but I'd like to try, if not we'll put him on a ventilator. Do you trust me?"

Hotch frowned but nodded once, and the doctor rushed over to Reid's side, making sure the bed was completely flat. Morgan was swearing under his breath and Gideon was eerily silent as he watched Reid's lips slowly turn blue.

The nurse still in the room was studying the monitor, "He's crashing! Heart rate's dropping!"

"I know that!" The doctor snapped back. "Where's that crash cart!" The doctor paused, raising his arm, and waited for the precise moment of when and where to strike. He brought his fist down hard on the centre of Reid's sternum, performing a pecordial thump. It didn't make any change to the crashing rhythm, and the monitor quickly dropped to zero in that section too. "I need that cart!" the doctor yelled as he started chest compressions.

The second nurse rushed back into the room; and her and the resident started hooking up the defibrillator while the first nurse did the breathing side of CPR, with the mask and bag again. The resident then took scissors off a tray and cut the front of the hospital gown, gaining access to the chest in order to place the gel pads down.

The doctor was handed the paddles, and called out "Charge to 120!" The dial was set, and the charge button was pressed as all the personnel moved away. The tone sounded and the doctor firmly pressed the paddles to Reid's chest. "All clear! I'm shocking on 3... 1, 2, 3!" He pressed the red button on each paddle simultaneously, and the charge was released. It lasted 2 seconds, and then he kept the paddles in place, watching the monitor.

"No change! Charge to 150!" He repeated the same set of actions.

"Charge to 200!" And again he released a shock into Reid's slender frame. The monitor beeped, and his heart picked up a regular rhythm again. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor watched the respiratory rate which, though it had recovered due to resetting the system, was still low and not picking up. It read 10, and then dropped to 9. The nurse kept his breathing steady with the mask over his face once more.

"Damn it! Don't you dare crash on me again!" the doctor demanded of an unconscious person. He looked over to the stunned team. "Is he on any medication we don't know about?"

Hotch and Gideon shook their heads and collectively answered, "No."

A small "Yes." sounded from behind them and everyone turned to JJ. She bit her lip, looking at Hotch, "I wanted to tell you, but you told me to wait."

Gideon's eyes widened as he made the connection, and he started pacing.

The doctor didn't feel there was time for this news to be given gently, "Just tell me, it's rather urgent I find out!"

"Dilaudid." she choked on the word and the rest of the team's expressions changed from worry, to a mixture of disbelief and dull acceptance. It made sense, and none of them could believe they hadn't seen it.

One of the nurses had gone to fetch a ventilator anyway, and the doctor barked an order at the two other persons in the room, "Get him off that morphine! Pronto! The Dilaudid in his system is having a heightened reaction to the morphine!" The resident jumped into action. "They're both opiates, and can both cause respiratory depression. When used together there's always a risked of heightened respiratory depression or respiratory arrest. For it to have reacted like this, he would have had to have taken it within the last six hours." He checked the monitor; Reid's breathing was still stable at 9 breaths per minute.

The nurse came back with the ventilator and the doctor gave her an order. "Prepare for a nasotracheal intubation." She nodded and the doctor turned back to the distressed team, Gideon had still been pacing, but now stopped to listen. "Rather than a traditional tracheotomy, inserting a tube straight into his neck and throat, or an orotreacheal intubation, a large tube through the mouth, larynx, and vocal chords to the trachea, I feel nasotracheal will be best. When he wakes up he'll be able to talk better without a tube in his mouth, and a smaller tube between his vocal chords than a larger one. Now that he's no longer on the morphine he may wake up in pain. Are you family?"

"Yes." Hotch replied.

"Good," he eyed Morgan for a moment, before adding, "I'll let you all stay with him. He'll want to see familiar faces when he wakes. The anaesthesia should wear off within a half hour, maybe less." He walked back over to Reid, and observed as the resident inserted the small tube down Reid's nasal passage, without any trouble. The two nurses and the resident left the room, the doctor following behind. "Feel free to borrow some chairs from the hall." he added before leaving the room.

The team stood in silence at the end of Reid's bed for a few minutes. He looked flushed again, which was undoubtedly better than pale and blue-lipped. He was alive. He was going to make it.

Slowly, Hotch turned to JJ, "How did you know?"

"It just clicked on Friday, but I wanted to be absolutely sure before I mentioned it. I check his bag last night. He caught me; you should have seen how angry and defensive he became. It's in the small pocket inside his bag." No one moved towards the bag to check, seeing it would mean having to fully accept. JJ continued explaining everything, even though she was sure everyone could figure it out, it was better than silence. "Yesterday, when you were with him Emily, after he slapped you," Gideon looked up slightly shocked, and then looked over at Reid's still form, "the shakes, dizziness, and vomiting, they're all withdrawal symptoms."

"So he's been trying to wean himself off?" Morgan asked.

Gideon sighed, "Yes, he was trying Morgan. He was using me like a recovering addict would a sponsor. I didn't realise it was that bad, and I left him to sort it through on his own. That's the worst thing a sponsor can do."

Hotch matched Gideon's sigh, "He knows something like this could get him fired. _Will_ get him fired if I report it."

"He'd never do anything to put his career in jeopardy. If he was trying to quit he obviously cares about this job more." Prentiss said, coming to Reid' defence, since he currently couldn't.

"I know that, Prentiss. Let's discuss this with him when he wakes up. Let him tell us everything like I told him he'd have to."

Everyone nodded, and Morgan and Prentiss went out into the hall to grab more chairs.

-----------------------

Gideon sat on Reid's right; Hotch was directly across from him. They both had Reid's hand clasped between their own. Prentiss was beside Gideon, and across from her was JJ. At the foot of the bed was Morgan, his chair farther away from the bed so that he could lean forward and rest his arms on the small metal frame at the foot of the bed, and look up at Reid. They formed a silent barrier of protection around him. One would have to be insane, or have a death wish, to dare try and disrupt Reid at this moment.

Reid moved a couple times, a grimace passing over his features as he did so. It broke all their hearts, every time. He turned his head to his right, and swallowed. None of them knew how hard it was to swallow with a tube down your throat but it couldn't have been very easy, and it sounded painful. A few moments later Reid's eyes slowly opened and met Gideon's. A small smiled crept across Reid's lips. "You're back…" he whispered hoarsely.

_-Fin-_

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A/N: Yes final chapter... Never fear! I have written more already that picks off right where this left off. Just a small sequal to tie things up with Reid. However this was never about the case, it was about Reid's struggle without Gideon. It felt appropriate to leave it there. (wrote over 600 more words of babble before I realised I'd gone too far and ruined the ending, though. So it was cut and is ready to go on the start of a new fic.)  
If anyone actually is interested on any loose ends I didn't tie up here, feel free to ask me in a PM. Be _specific_ or your won't get specific answers lol. Cheers everyone! Hope you enjoyed it!

P.S. I've made a video to go with this fic, the link is available in my profile. Not my best quality work, but Windows Movie Maker was being evil. Enjoy!


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